


Children of Venom

by AdamantVibranium_SuperBoy



Series: Venom's Family [2]
Category: Venom (Comics), Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Alternate Origins, Bisexual!Eddie Brock, Blue!Phage, Comic Book Science, Dad!Eddie Brock, F/M, Family, Gen, Heteroflexible!Flash Thompson, Human Experimentation, Implied Sexual Content, Kissing, Klyntar Symbiotes - Freeform, Life Foundation, M/M, Mild Language, Multi, Other, Polyamory, Project Rebirth 2.0, Psuedo-incest because the Symbiotes are related, brief mention of underage
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-10-30 19:31:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 43,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17834771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdamantVibranium_SuperBoy/pseuds/AdamantVibranium_SuperBoy
Summary: Eddie Brock finds out the hard way that Venom has family. He guesses, that makes it his family, too.





	1. Red Letter Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie gets his mail.

The sun is setting, and normally Eddie gets his mail before now, but today has just been one of those days. Eddie wouldn't call it depression, but it fringes the definition, so he tries not to think about it. As he walks back up to his apartment, he rifles through the letters to see what he's got. A tree trimming advertisement. Cable bill. Junk mail. And a… whoa. Better wait to get inside and sit down for this one: a letter from the LIFE Foundation. It's a large envelope – the kind you can put a full sheet of paper in without folding it– and has his full name, including both his middle names. 

He's considering suing them since they put him through hell and trashed his apartment, but he isn't sure whether he should involve Venom in anything, and he has to have a solid story to show his perspective. If he's going to leave something out of the court case, he wants to make sure he knows exactly what to leave out. The courtroom is no place for being wishy-washy. (Is that what Anne used to say?) 

**“Open it. I want to see what they have to say,”** Venom says impatiently

“I will, V, just let me sit down first. If I find out they're ruining my life all over again I don't want to hurt myself passing out.” He closes and locks the door behind him as he goes over to the couch.

**“That is incongruous with your plans to drink liquor after reading the letter.”**

“Not a done deal, V. Let's just see what they say, first,” Eddie says, knowing that Venom's probably right. He was planning to drink the moment he saw who the letter was from. 

After opening the envelope, he starts to read out loud. Venom could read his mind, so there really is no point, but it makes him feel a little better, as if some aspect of this is within his control. 

“Dear Mr. Brock, We are aware of the personal costs and damages you've suffered due to recent incidents involving LIFE Foundation security personnel and previous damages from the actions of the late Mr. Drake. We want you to know you are not alone in this and we're willing to offer twelve millio….. WHAT?!!!”

**“It says, ‘twelve million dollars in damages and our continuing offer to provide any specialty healthcare, medical or other needs you may have.’ This isn't good, Eddie. They _know_.”**

“We already.. but….” Eddie is hyperventilating.

**“It's okay, Eddie. Breathe.”**

Eddie takes in a few shaky breaths and tries to recover from his vertigo. Venom rights it almost immediately and begins to even Eddie's breathing out, helping him breathe deep but letting Eddie set the pace. Eventually, after setting his head between his knees for a minute, Eddie responds.

“We already knew they know, V. They destroyed my apartment and nearly killed both of us because they knew.” 

**“They didn't know I survived the explosion. You didn't even know that for over a week.”**

“Yeah, but V, buddy… twelve million is a lot of money. I don't know whether we could get more in court or not. Even if we could, they're saving a lot of hassle by going around the courts. I mean, we need to talk to Anne first, but I thought this was gonna be a very different letter. I'll be drinking tonight for a while different reason!”

 **“This letter makes you thirsty? It may be from the shock you went through. Let me baby you tonight.”** And without waiting, a tendril whipped out across the kitchen and got a glass from the cupboard while another turned the faucet on.

“No, V. I mean, yeah, you can baby me, but that's not what I meant. I want to celebrate! But first, I want to read the rest of these papers, make sure we're getting the whole picture." 

After a few moments, Eddie is stunned. The additional letters in the large envelope say they know about Eddie and Venom and want to study them. They don't have another perfect symbiotic match, and they want to run regular non-invasive tests on Eddie and Venom. The tests could help them find matches for the remaining Symbiotes. There's another four million in it for them if they agree to a year's worth of study. 

Eddie is much less enthused about being studied, and he decides that he wants to negotiate the terms. 

He calls Anne first and asks her to lunch the next day so they can discuss the letters. He knows better than to deal with the LIFE Foundation without a lawyer. Then he goes out and buys a bottle of Irish cream and a gallon of chocolate milk. He only celebrates for three hours before falling in bed with Venom, snoring before he even hits the mattress.

  


  



	2. Lunch Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Venom answers questions.

It's the diner they used to go on dates at. Though this isn't a romantic meeting, Eddie can't help but reminisce. Venom feels his memories and pokes around a bit trying to get some context, but Venom's questions are largely about the menu. He doesn't understand why chocolate chips aren't a standard for every menu on the planet. Anne shows up shortly after they do and suggests that she looks at the letters from the LIFE Foundation while Eddie and Venom start eating. She finishes quickly and says, “I'd go for it. To get more in court, you'd have to have proof, and this is clearly them playing nice. If they wanted to, they could bury you. They have enough security footage of you wreaking havoc, for instance from their drones when you led chase on your motorcycle that night, that they could feasibly out you as Venom in court. Then you'd be sent off to a superhuman penitentiary for biting that guy's head off. I know it was Venom and not you, but as far as the courts are concerned, you would be held responsible.”

“Well, they are playing very nice, indeed. I bet it's because they want to study me though, and they can't really do that if I'm in prison.”

“They probably could, but the point is, they aren't making studying you part of the deal for the main settlement. The twelve mil is just for not suing them.”

“So you think it's a good deal? I can just tell them ‘piss off’ about studying us?”

_**Wait! There's something you need to know. They mentioned they have other Symbiotes without hosts. The studies may be the only way to help my offspring survive on this planet.** _

“Your what?! Since when do you have kids?!”

“I take it you aren't talking to me right now.”

“Yeah, sorry about that, Anne. And _you!_ When were you going to tell me about this?” 

_**Never.** _

“What do you mean 'never’?”

_**I thought they were dead, but if the LIFE Foundation still has Symbiotes, they may have my offspring. It is normally the grandparents job to parent the young ones, but I cannot have a third generation without a second. Most of them are very young, born here, on this planet, shortly before we met.** _

“So, not to distract you, but did you say Venom has kids?” Anne asks curiously.

“Apparently. He says they're very young – born here on Earth, just before we bonded.” 

_**And at least three of them participated in the human trials that killed so many humans. My second oldest, Phage and Scream and my youngest, Lasher** _

“How many are there?” Anne asks, simultaneous to Eddie's identical thought.

_**Five, though I doubt all of them survived. The testing was almost as deadly for Symbiotes as it was for humans.** _

“Five? That's a lot, buddy,” Eddie says, genuinely impressed.

_**Not counting Riot.** _

“Come again? Did you just say Riot was yours?”

 _ **Yes, my offspring. The oldest one. Parents and offspring on Klyntar do not often get along. That is why it's usually the grandparents that act as teachers. I was a disappointment to Riot, but he stayed with me when we were taken from that comet.**_

“Whoa, I feel like I'm learning a lot right now. So Riot found you disappointing? Is that why he was such an ass? And that comet wasn't your home? You're from Clint–

 _ **Klyntar. It's a planet in the galaxy you call Andromeda. Near the center, actually. The comet was a colony. Sometimes we travel using existing astroprojectiles rather than making a ship like the ones the LIFE Foundation used.**_

“What’s he saying?” Anne asks, taking Eddie's focus back to his surroundings. He absentmindedly picks up his sandwich while he responds.

“He's telling me that his planet's in the Andromeda galaxy, the comet they were found in was their version of a spaceship, grandparents are really grand, and Riot was a bitch because he was basically ashamed of being V's son. 

_**That about sums it up.** _

“So what was the part about five kids, then?” Anne inquires. 

“Oh, V says he had five kids between arriving here and meeting me, and he already had one, which was the bad guy we fought when Drake wanted to leave in the rocket. He says we should look into participating in the study so that his kids can have a chance at getting a good human host.”

_**Actually, Phage and Scream were on the ship with Riot and me. They were in the human trials before Lasher, Agony and Carnage were extracted from me.** _

"Extracted? No, nevermind. What were you going to say Anne?" 

“Well, if you're going to participate in the study, you should play hardball. Set demands for how you want the children to be treated and how to go about testing you and Venom. Make it about more than money, because I'm betting they want to keep it about the money, and that's why they're offering you so much. I'll do a little research on how safety in human testing normally goes and we can meet them with your demands next week.” 

“Or, you know, sooner… Look Anne, I don't know what the survival rates are for Symbiotes in the LIFE Foundation are, but I'm not willing to wait too long, in case my inaction gets Venom's children killed. I can't live with that on my conscience and I don't want him to lose the only family he has.”

_**I have you.** _

“That's sweet, buddy, but I don't want to lose them. If I'm your family, that makes them my family, okay?”

“Give me two days then. Make your list of demands and we'll make an appointment to meet with them in two days.”. 

“That works for me. Thank you, Annie. This really means a lot.”

  


  



	3. The Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie meets with the Life Foundation – then he meets his kids.

While thinking up his list of demands for the LIFE Foundation, Eddie decides to go by a coffee shop. He sends an email to the LIFE Foundation at the email address provided in the letter about the study and asks for an appointment in two days. They reply before his coffee (a chocolate mocha frappé) is even ready, confirming his appointment and asking what time works best for him. He tells them one o’ clock so that he and Anne have time to review things that morning. 

Eddie makes his list of demands.

1\. Neither Venom nor he are allowed to be harmed during the experimental study or any other time for any reason.

2\. Venom's offspring are to be given the best medical treatment possible and their well-being is the the first and highest priority. 

3\. If Venom and Eddie are to be separated, it is temporary and they are to be reunited as quickly as possible.

4\. The LIFE Foundation will not disclose Eddie's identity as Venom, nor his association with any Symbiote or LIFE Foundation research to anyone for any reason.

5\. The human trials will be as humane as possible and the Symbiotes will be treated with the respect given to any sentient creature. 

6\. Eddie and/or Venom can opt-out of the study at any time for any reason, without warning. 

7\. The LIFE Foundation is responsible for matching Venom's offspring to responsible and caring hosts. Eddie and Venom get the final say on anything regarding the offspring and are put in contact with any and all hosts. 

8\. The LIFE Foundation will provide food for the offspring, including fish or livestock, if necessary. They will develop medication for the hosts to take which provide the nutrients and neurochemicals needed by the Symbiotes.

9\. The LIFE Foundation will provide for all medical needs and daily expenses of permanent hosts and provide them with compensation. The Symbiotes have the right to reject the hosts for any reason, in which case, monetary compensation is ceased. (Just in case they end up with a host that's just in it for the money.)

10\. Venom and Eddie maintain parental rights and and have the right to remove the Venom's offspring from LIFE Foundation custody and research at any time. 

11\. Eddie Brock becomes the first reporter informed of any LIFE Foundation news and is their primary media liaison. As such, he is allowed to interview the staff about Carlton Drake and judiciously decide what material is for public consumption.

12 The LIFE Foundation will never hold Eddie Brock, nor any Symbiote responsible for any events, calamities, disasters, injuries, illness nor damages of any kind. The Life Foundation claims all responsibility in these instances. 

Eddie feels pretty good about his list. Though he's sure Anne will think of any legal points and help him with the wording, he's a little proud to have thought up so much on his own. Venom doesn't understand all of the legal reasons for the list, but is excited about getting parental rights to his offspring. Even if they aren't in his custody, he'll be able to visit with them and make medical and legal decisions for their well-being and that has him elated. He's a little peeved that Eddie would think to become the LIFE Foundation's media liaison, but he understands that Eddie has his reasons, and he doesn't think they are purely professional ones. In a way, Eddie will have the right to expose the LIFE Foundation's actions if they choose to repeat their mistakes of the past, and that gives Venom a little comfort. 

The meeting with the foundation's legal team goes a little better than expected. The new CEO is there and immediately agrees to all the proposals having to do with Venom's offspring. The bit about Eddie being able to expose the life Foundation's closet skeletons is a no-go with him. He agrees to comply with any interviews concerning Carlton Drake, but refuses to let any company secrets, including the research with Symbiotes, into the public eye. He says corporate espionage is bad enough, and there's no way he's allowing Eddie free reign. He does however agree to give Eddie first dibs on any news, allowing him 48 hours with new information before press releases. 

It's better than Eddie truly hoped for. Venom asks to see the children immediately and they are led to a series of labs where the Symbiote projects are housed. It's much like Eddie remembers it: a series of glass rooms within a warehouse sized compound. The first lab they enter has a glass tube on display. “Seed One” is printed on the display table, and the Symbiote is red and black.

**_That's Carnage! She's almost fully grown! They must have accelerated her aging somehow. Look at her, she's so cute!_ **

_I figured your paternal instincts wouldn't be that strong. Did you even have a word for cute when you got here?_

Suddenly, Eddie got a concept. It almost felt like serendipity or the proverbial light bulb over one's head. It was a simple thought: **_Words are overrated._** Then he heard Venom's voice again. **_—and they're your paternal instincts. We're just borrowing them because we share everything._**

“Now that you mention it he is kind of cute.”

**_‘She’. As far as gender goes, her closest equivalent in your language would be feminine._ **

“Really? That's your daughter? She's beautiful!”

Anne interrupted Eddie's conversation. “You're talking out loud again. I didn't know if you meant that to be an internal conversation or not.”

“It doesn't really matter. I'm just happy to see her.” Eddie walks up to the glass and touches it gently. The red and black mass swirls in on itself in response. 

**_She recognizes us! She knows us!_ **

Eddie breaks into a smile. _Can you talk to her?_

**_Not like this. We'd need direct contact. In this atmosphere, it could be dangerous. We should visit her though. Maybe once or twice a week, if possible._ **

Eddie turns to the CEO who followed the entourage of scientists into the room. “Can we visit her? Like, on a regular basis?”

“Certainly,” the CEO says with surprise. He apparently had not expected that question. “You have parental visitation rights as per our agreement, but we'd prefer it if you did so during office hours. Late nights are possible, but we'd like you to notify us ahead of time if that is your intent. We can provide better security that way and keep you from triggering any alarms. We have scientists on staff 24 hours a day, but we can't expect them to drop everything to babysit you whenever you drop by. Our security staff will be able to protect you better anyways.” 

“You really think _I_ need protection?” 

The CEO looks disconcerted. “I'll be frank with you. This is uncharted territory. We have no clue what these creatures are capable of, and it's entirely possible your Symbiote could hurt the other ones, or vice versa, without meaning to. Additionally, we don't know enough about their culture or biology to make assumptions that they have the same behavioral or social patterns that we see here on Earth. In the wild, some animals will eat the offspring of competitors to ensure genetic lineage. We can't allow that sort of harmful behavior here.”

Anne speaks before Eddie has a chance. “That is a fair point, and my client is happy to abide by your security regulations, as long as they abide by our existing agreements.” 

“Thank you, Miss Weying. I really appreciate your and Mister Brock's cooperation in this matter.” 

The next Symbiote they meet is in a rabbit cage. The white rabbit has a purplish-pink tint to its feet and eyes. The cage has “Seed Two” printed into the glass. 

**_This is Agony, our second youngest. She is strong._ **

One of the scientists approaches with a clipboard and clears his throat before speaking. “This Symbiote has been in animal trials for a month now. She seems to prefer the rabbits over other animals. Symbiosis doesn't usually hold up for more than a few days before the rabbit dies, but this one has had constant vitals for the past ten days. This testing will help us know what's needed in a host for this Symbiote. So far, the rabbit’s immune system has fluctuated. We don't know if the rabbit is rejecting the Symbiote —”

“Agony. Her name is Agony,” Eddie says correctively.

“— ‘Agony’, then. We don't know if the rabbit is rejecting Agony or if she's making changes to the rabbit's immune system as she sees fit. So far, the musculature and digestive system of the rabbit have changed. It's stronger and faster and is our first carnivorous rabbit. They seem to prefer mice and crickets.”

Eddie touches the glass again and the rabbit hops to the glass, pressing its nose against the glass where Eddie's fingers are, as if trying to smell him. Eddie stands there for a few minutes in silence before pulling away. He turns to the scientists. “Treat her well. I want updates whenever she changes hosts.” One of the scientists starts to argue, but the CEO stops them.

“Of course, Mister Brock.”

Then, a female scientist takes the lead and shows them to an imaging room. She presses her palm to a scanner and opens up a digital file, and the computer projects three-dimensional holographic images. The first images are of three blobs, similar to Venom without a host. One is yellow, one is green and one is blue. 

“To our knowledge, the yellow Symbiote is deceased and its remains were confiscated by S.H.I.E.L.D. The blue Symbiote lived longer and is currently in isolation off-site. It went into shock after the unfortunate death of its last human host. Don't worry, Mister Brock, it's in a safe place.” 

The pain on Eddie's face is infectious, and Anne couldn't help but cover her mouth in a half-gasp when the word “deceased” was said. She knew to expect this, but somehow, seeing Eddie fawn over Venom's children changed the way she sees them. They aren't just aliens that died now. They're the children of her ex-fiancé. At that, the CEO says, “We're sorry for your loss, Mister Brock. That was during the time that Drake was in control of the Symbiotes and running unapproved tests like the maniac he was. If we could've done something, we would've.” Eddie just nods, pain as palpable as before, but a hint of rage can be seen coalescing at the edges of his eyes. 

“Drake was a bastard, alright. Don't worry. I won't blame you for his crimes. Thank you for taking care of them.” Then after a deep breath, “What about the green one? Is he dead too?”

“Not to our knowledge. Seed Three – that is, the green Symbiote – was successfully bonded to a human host during Mister Drake's human trials. We don't know what became of the host or the Symbiote. They disappeared the day Mister Drake slaughtered most of his ground control personnel. We presume they either were murdered, died or escaped, but Mister Drake had much of the laboratory security footage deleted before he died, so we have no way of knowing what became of them.” 

Anne was quick to jump in, “Do you have a picture of the host? Maybe we could find them?”

“We do, but the Symbiotes have unique talents for camouflaging themselves. They can go undetected by the human eye by bending light around themselves, and they have unique shapeshifting abilities. If the subject wanted to change his face, he could – possibly permanently.” 

_We can do that, V?_

**_Yes, with practice._ **

“That is really badass!” Eddie said out loud, earning looks of bewilderment and concern for those around him. Whatever. He needed to take his wins where he could get them. Finding out something awesome helped distract him from the pain of losing a child he never knew. —But Venom did know Scream, and he felt familiarity and affection for her and loss at her demise. Klyntar do not naturally feel love the way humans do, but in his own way, he loved his daughter. His sons, Lasher and Phage were alive the last Venom knew, though he had doubts about Scream, who may have perished by the time Venom bonded with Eddie. He remembers seeing the yellow mass of his child motionless on a laboratory floor. 

Eddie returns his thoughts to the present conversation, looking to keep himself from remembering Scream as Venom does. “...Though, I suppose you're right, he could change his face. Show us anyways. That way if he hasn't already changed his face, we'll know who to look for. I didn't even know we could do that until now. Maybe he doesn't either.”

A 3-D picture of a teenage boy appears in the projection. He has messy brownish-blond hair, tanned skin and vibrant forest green eyes. He looks thin, almost like a person wasting, and except for being clean and in clean laboratory clothes, he looks like a homeless person. 

The female scientist continues her presentation. “His name is Trevor Cole Hernandez. He is a homeless orphan who volunteered for the human trials conducted under Drake's direction. He seemed to have a controlled bond with the Symbiote and often showed signs of psuedopod formation, but his vitals were all over the place and he could barely function. He would often mutter to himself, but unlike you, the conversations seemed to be incoherent monologues instead of clear dialogues. We never got a clear picture of what he could do, but he often had violent outbursts that lasted only a few seconds before he was completely calm again.”

Eddie was curious. Venom was more curious. “When did the outbursts start? Do you know what caused them?”

“Usually, the outbursts were either when medical personnel would engage him to feed him liquid nutrition through an I.V. or when they would ask him questions. He said at one point 'let's see how you like it!’ and pierced the arm of a nurse with a razor-sharp psuedopod that protruded from his back. My guess is that he didn't like needles, but he was given liquid nutrition almost 'round the clock, so he had a lot of needles in his life at that point.” 

“Can you print some pictures, maybe with a description? That way we have a reference while we look for him.”

“We can do that. We'll have it ready in just a moment.” The 3-D image is replaced with a 2-D image of Trevor's face and a printer on the other side of the room begins to whirr. 

**_If Lasher is out there, we'll find him._ **

Venom's confidence floods Eddie's senses and fills him with hope.

  


  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note about pronouns:   
> I refer to Venom as a "he" because he identifies as masculine in the _Venom: Space Knight_ comics. 
> 
>  
> 
> I refer to the Carnage Symbiote as "she" because in the _Carnage_ and _Venom_ comics, Cletus Kasady claims the Symbiote identifies as feminine.
> 
>  
> 
> I refer to Riot as "he" because that is how Venom describes him in the Venom (2018) movie.
> 
>  
> 
> I refer to Lasher and Phage as masculine and Agony and Scream as feminine because it matches their hosts in the _Venom: Lethal Protector_ and _Venom: Separation Anxiety_ comics.
> 
>  
> 
> I am not avoiding gender neutral pronouns. I simply don't see these particular Klyntar Symbiotes as being gender neutral. If I decide to put Scorn in this fic, they will be gender neutral. I'm not trying to be overtly binary, it's just the way I view these particular characters.


	4. Hunting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunting for jobs, hunting for transport, hunting for food – and hunting for Lasher.

The interviews go well. Most of the employees wanted to remain anonymous, but had horrible things to say about Carlton Drake. It fits. He was a horrible man. Most referred to him as a megalomaniac, and more than one described his disdain for human life, favoring the Symbiotes as ”a higher form of life”. Some even called him a ruthless murderer. 

All in all, Eddie gets the interview of a lifetime by digging up and backing up all of the dirt on the man who destroyed his career. Although it's post-mortem, the justifiable vengeance gives Eddie a catharsis he didn't know he needed. It isn't long before every employer that rejected him is begging for him back. 

The network he worked for is offering him a permanent position like his old one, but with higher pay. Places he hadn't even heard of are coming out of the woodwork to beg him to work for them. 

Eddie doesn't really need a job. Not anymore. But he can't just sit around and do nothing all day. He has to work. He decides to remain freelance and work on building his own online version of The Eddie Brock Report. That way, he can report what needs to be reported without answering to anyone but the internet, and he could still give exposés and exclusives to different networks at his discretion. The network he used to work for even gave him the rights to use “The Eddie Brock Report” as the title of his show, in hopes that he will favor them in his freelance career and in hopes that it would remind viewers of the old episodes that could only be watched on the network's website. Eddie figures it's a fair deal, even if it was a mostly unheard of concession. 

He doesn't know what to do about the money, though. He likes his life. Even if his apartment is falling apart at the seams and full of bullet holes, it's still home. So he barely touches the money, only using it for his normal groceries and bills while he gets back on his feet. He likes not having to worry about making rent, but he doesn't want a complete lifestyle change. That just wouldn't be him. He thinks about getting a larger apartment, but doesn't see the need for it. So he stays where he's at, and for the most part, lives in his normal budget. 

The one thing he spends extra money on, aside from feeding Venom and taking Anne and Dan out to dinner, is a motorcycle. His old one was totalled by the LIFE Foundation's security force when Roland Treece intentionally T-boned him. He takes Dan to the Harley dealership to make sure he gets the right helmet for him. He already knows Anne's size, but it's hard to guess how big Dan's head is. He also gets him a jacket with body armor, gloves and boots so that Dan will be safer when he rides with Eddie. Dan keeps insisting that he won't be riding much, but Eddie is all about safety, and Dan is much more delicate than Anne ever was. Anne knows how to ride, herself, so she always instinctively knows which way to lean. Eddie figures there's no harm in being prepared.

By the end of the day, Eddie's bought two motorcycles, one, a trike for when he needs to carry more and the other, the newest model of his old motorcycle. “No such thing as can't” indeed. 

Next on his list: find Trevor Hernandez and get his kid back, even if Trevor is part of the package deal. Maybe he could get the kid off the streets, give him an apartment or something if everything goes well.

It's when he goes to Mrs. Chen's store that he has his first bout of luck. When he shows her the picture of Trevor to ask if she's seen him, she has. 

“He was here just yesterday. He bought hot chocolate and a sandwich. Carried a lot of books. Maybe you should check the library. I think the books had the logo on the covers.” 

“Thanks, Mrs. Chen!” Eddie buys tater tots and chocolate bars. Before he leaves, he remembers something. “Oh, and if you see him again, would you give him this?” He scribbles his name and number on the back of his receipt and writes a note saying: “Lasher, Call me!” 

Eddie goes to the library to look for him, but it's late, and the library closes with no sign of Lasher or Trevor. He assumes they would still be together, but he's careful to check out everyone he sees. Even if Lasher couldn't change shape, he could change hosts. 

_**We'll know when we see him.** _

_I know, buddy, but I don't even know what to look for._

_**Trust me. We'll know.** ___

__Eddie walks home. It isn't far from the library, and he came on foot. The fresh air feels nice, but there's something missing. Like he's kinda hungry. Or bored. Or both._ _

__Okay, it's both._ _

_Hey V, wanna go for a swim in the bay? We could hunt some seals for a bit, get some exercise and have a snack._

_**That's a good idea. I don't feel like searching for bad guys right now. It's one thing to stumble upon an atrocity, and another to hunt for trouble. We can hunt for trouble tomorrow night. Let's hunt seals tonight.** _

__With that decided, Eddie goes home and drives his motorcycle out to the bay with a fresh change of clothes in the saddle bag._ _

__When he's ready at the water's edge, he says, “Mask!”_ _

**"Copy!"**

__...and the duo plunges into the water as Venom._ _

__They find the seals easily, and they can swim fast enough to catch any one of them they want. They avoid the pregnant ones, the mothers and the young ones, focusing on large males. Before long, though, they sense something else in the water. At first it looks like a squid, but Venom's unusual sense of alarm and his bubbling paternal feelings take over. Before they know it, they've killed a great white shark and eaten its brain. The figure that looks like a squid swims away, too fast for Venom to catch up to. In moments, they are on the other side of the bay, chasing after the squid-like figure to no avail. It's gone._ _

__**“That was him,”** Venom says quietly._ _

  


  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't make it super clear, but Venom just saved the squid-like figure from a shark attack.


	5. Shopping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie finally finds Trevor. By the end of the day, he's exhausted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> There is a brief mention of underage prostitution. It isn't explicit or sexual content, but there is a discussion of it. If that bothers you, please avoid it. 
> 
> !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eddie can't stop searching. He spends all of his days and most of the night hanging out at the library, checking in with Mrs. Chen and searching the waters of San Francisco Bay. Trevor clearly doesn't want to be found — or Eddie's just that unlucky. 

It takes a week of barely any sleep and constant vigilance before he gets any closer to finding Trevor and Lasher. 

  


  


**  
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Trevor walks into the store. His last trick gave him twenty bucks, and it's time to splurge. He knows he should save it and not binge, but he's always _so_ hungry. He grabs a couple of sandwiches a few chocolate bars and an apple juice.

“Hi Mrs. Chen, how are you today?” he says with a little cheer in his voice. It's not completely fake either. He can actually eat today without swimming with the sharks. 

“I'm fine, Trev, how are you? Are you meditating like I showed you?”

“Always! It really helps!” he says genuinely as he places his items on the counter. 

“Someone’s been looking for you. He's a good guy. You should give him a call.” She says as she hands him Eddie's note.

He swallows and suddenly his mouth is dry. _'Lasher'?_ How does anyone but him know that name.

“Stop gawking at the note. It's not going to run away, you know.”

“I'm sorry, Mrs. Chen… Did you read this?”

“No,” she says sternly. “It's _your_ note. I don't invade people's privacy like that.” 

“Thank you.” Trevor says with a shaky voice. _How does he know_

**_Let's find out._** says the voice in his head.

Mrs. Chen, do you mind if I use your phone? Or do you have change for… oh I'm sorry, let me get that.” He reaches for his wallet as she bags his items for him. 

“I'm not going to charge you, you doof. Come with me to the back room. You can call Eddie from there.”

“I thought you didn't read the note,” Trevor says nervously.

“I didn't, but I know who gave it to me, and he told me to tell you to call him.”

“Oh, right. I'm sorry.”

“Don't be. You apologize too much.”

He dials the number in the note. _'Eddie’_ he thinks. _That's a cool name._

The phone rings. Then it clicks. “Hello?” 

  


  


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__Eddie's phone rings with caller ID saying Mrs. Chen. He doesn't usually get calls from her. Hopefully it's about Lasher._ _

__“Hello?”_ _

__“Hi, I'm looking for a guy named Eddie. Is this the right number?” It's a young male voice. God, it's so hard not to get his hopes up._ _

__“Yes, this is Eddie. Are you Trevor?” He probably shouldn't have asked that. He should've let the kid introduce himself, but his stomach is full of butterflies and empty at the same time._ _

__“Yeah, that's me!” The kid lets out a nervous laugh. “You wanted me to call you?”_ _

__“Yes. Yes I did,” Eddie says a little too fast. “I was wondering if we could meet somewhere neutral. Do you like coffee? We could meet at your favorite coffee house.”_ _

__“Yeah, coffee's great. Umm, how about that place by the library. The one with all the bare wood walls.”_ _

__“You got it, kid. Don't worry, I'll pay for your coffee. It's on me. Do umm… do you need anything? Like is there anything you need help with right away?”_ _

_A place to sleep,_ Trevor thinks, but he says instead, “No, we can talk tomorrow. I'll be fine until then.” 

Eddie pauses a moment. “I, uh… I'm really glad I found you. This is really important to me.” 

**_He has a Symbiote!_** thinks the voice in Trevor's head. 

“Umm… okay, let's talk tomorrow. Does 10:00 a.m. sound good?" 

“Yeah, that's great, kid.” 

“Okay, see you then.” Trevor is about to hang up when Eddie calls his name and he puts the phone back to his ear. 

“Hey Trevor! If you need anything – anything at all – call me, okay. I wanna look out for you.” 

“Okay, Eddie, I will.” 

  


  


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Eddie is waiting at the coffee shop. He picked a table in back away from the windows. There's an escape route by the bathrooms that goes out to the back parking lot, there's more privacy at those tables and the light is lower, reducing the chance that the Symbiotes would be seen if they do something conspicuous like manifest tendrils to communicate. It's not perfect and he's hoping the seclusion won't scare Trevor off, but for the conversation they're going to have, privacy is important. 

Venom feels it the moment Lasher approaches. Trevor's not even in the door yet when Eddie is standing up to greet him. He waves to him from the back and walks over to meet him halfway. 

“You made it! I was afraid you wouldn't show.” 

“I felt like I had to. You know my other name, and I haven't told anyone yet. Who are you?” 

“Coffee first. We can talk about it at our table where there's a little more privacy.” 

_Good_. Trevor thinks. He definitely feels exposed out in the main part of the coffee shop, and the voice in his head is super excited about something. It feels giddy and happy – two very different emotions from its usual anxious and defensive. 

“Order whatever you want,” Eddie says as he walks with Trevor to the counter, “My treat.” Trevor orders a mocha latte with whip cream and once it's ready, follows Eddie back to the table. When they're seated and comfortable, Eddie speaks. 

“So, I know this is a little forward of me, but I went through something like what your going through and I want to help.” 

“What kind of help?” 

“I know what it's like to live with a Symbiote. Maybe I can give you some pointers. You can walk away any time, but I really hope you don't.” 

Trevor lets the weight of Eddie's words hit him. _He's like me?_

**_Yes_ ** the voice in Trevor's head says. 

“Were you in one of the trials at that lab?” 

“No, kid. I wasn't. But that's where my Symbiote came from. ...Well, actually he came from Andromeda on a comet, but I met him at the LIFE Foundation in the labs there.” 

“Okay, what are some pointers?” Trevor asks nervously. He's trying not to get too excited but this is too much. He'd been feeling more and more alone lately and having a mentor would change everything for him. _Don't get ahead of yourself, Trev, it's only coffee._

“The Symbiotes need certain neurochemicals to maintain a healthy bond and they act as nutrients for the Symbiotes. A big one is phenethylamine, which can be found in whey protein, chocolate, fresh meat and brains. You focus on any part of the seals when you eat, or do the heads seem better to you?” Trevor would ask how he knows that, but he, himself, still smells like fish and bay water and the guy said he knew what it was like to have these cravings. 

“The heads are better. And I've been having chocolate cravings ever since I escaped. I'm always so hungry though, and I never have enough money to get all the food I want to eat. It's all-consuming sometimes.” 

“I know, kid. I know how that feels. Why don't we set you up a bank account and I can put money in there for you to eat with. That way, at least you'll have the food you and Lasher need. Maybe I can get you an extended stay hotel room for a little while, too.” 

It's overwhelming. Trevor feels a little faint. It's too good to be true. Unless… 

“What's the catch? What do you want in return?” Trevor asks, certain he won't like the answer. 

“I want you to take care of yourself and take care of your Symbiote. He's my… He's important to me.” Eddie seems sincere. 

Suddenly, it makes sense. Of course he wants to take care of his own kind. They're probably the only two on the planet! 

“So are we like, related? I mean our Symbiotes?” Trevor asks, unsure. 

“Yes.” Eddie says definitively. 

“Does that make us related?” Trevor asks. 

“If you want us to be.” Eddie says, a little hopeful. 

“So what do you want to do next?” Trevor asks awkwardly. He doesn't really know what to do with this new information. It still seems too good to be true, but it makes perfect sense, and he doesn't know how to react. 

“Let's talk for a while. Get to know each other. That sound good?” Eddie says. 

“Yeah, that's fine. I, uh, don't know what to talk about, though.” 

“Can I ask you about your family? Your parents or any relatives I should know about? You don't have to talk about anything you don't want to.” Eddie's sorry to ask. He knows Trevor's an orphan, but if he's in an abusive situation, the bruises would be gone by the time Eddie sees him. 

Trevor knows they have to talk about it sometime, and they might as well get it out of the way now. “It’s okay, we can talk about it a little. I was a military brat. I had a normal childhood until I was ten when my dad died in Iraq. Within a year, my mom and I were on the street. For some reason, we didn't qualify for assistance. My mom got low. She started doing anything to make sure we had food – and I mean _anything_. She died of AIDS two years ago. She got type two, the kind they don't have as many meds for. I've been on my own ever since. I live on the street but sometimes people let me stay with them for a couple of days. Sometimes I even get paid for it.” 

Eddie holds back any reactions he has to that. No need to make him feel bad about himself. He takes a few noticeably deep breaths before speaking. 

“What exactly are you paid for?” Eddie says tersely. 

Trevor's answer is rushed. “It's not what you think! It's just a few blowies! I don't do that other stuff! It's really no big deal. I mean, I gotta eat.” 

Eddie is beyond livid by this point. “Your a child! Anyone who would take advantage of you like that is beyond scum and deserves to die a horribly gruesome and painful death.” 

I'm _sixteen_! I'm old enough to say 'no’ if I want to!” 

“Yeah, but according to the law _and me_ , you aren't old enough to say 'yes’.” 

“Agree to disagree, then,” Trevor says, deflated. 

“I’m not agreeing to anything. As long as I have anything to do about it, you will _never_ have to do that again.” 

“I still gotta eat,” Trevor mumbles. 

“Then I will feed you. We're setting you up a bank account today, and that's final!” 

“You're not my dad!” 

“In a way, I kind of _am_!” 

The shock that visibly charges through Trevor's body might as well be actual electricity. _That's why!!_ he thinks. **_Apologize._** says his inner voice. 

“I won't argue anymore. I'm sorry, Eddie.” 

“It's not _you_ who should be sorry. I'm sorry you've had it so rough. I promise, I'm gonna change that. Symbiote or no Symbiote.” 

The genuine smile of tearful relief is almost a grimace on Trevor's face. “I'll accept whatever help you want to give. But first, do you mind if I use your shower? I still smell like–” 

“–fish and seal blood. I noticed. I guess some of my old sweats will fit you while you pick out clothes later today.” 

“Don't worry. I have a change of clothes.” 

“Okay, then.” Eddie looks at the boy's empty coffee cup. “Finished with your coffee?” 

“Yeah, I'm good.” 

  


  


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The walk back to Eddie's apartment isn't very far. Trevor's still trying not to cry in front of his new mentor. They're mostly quiet. After the difficult conversation at the coffee shop, there is still an atmosphere of awkwardness and conflict between them, though the actual conflict has passed. Trevor still can't wrap his head around what's happening. How could he be so lucky? Will this all turn out to be a trick? 

**_No._** The voice in his head says. 

But that doesn't take away the shock. He feels all of a sudden like he should've been trying to impress this man instead of arguing about what he sees as ambiguous morality. Obviously, Eddie doesn't see anything ‘ambiguous’ about it. It shocks him that this man wants to set up a bank account for him but doesn't want any favors in return. That kind of kindness just doesn't happen. He thinks all of this as he tries to find something to say to Eddie. Finally, he finds his voice. 

“So we never finished our talk about getting to know each other. What do you do for a living? Any favorite subjects in school?” 

Eddie is almost startled by the suddenness of the questions. 

“Yeah, I always liked English and history, but I was good at everything. I had to be. Also, I'm an investigative journalist. Mostly freelance these days.” 

“That's cool. So you, like, report stuff… anything interesting lately?” 

“I just did an in depth exposé about that creep, Carlton Drake. You know that name?” 

“He's the one who did this to us, isn't he? The mad scientist guy?” 

“That's the one. I left out the Symbiotes, but I made sure to gather enough evidence to get him three lifetime prison sentences if he ever comes back from the dead. With everything our Symbiotes can do, you can't be to careful. ...But I beat him once and I can beat him again, if it ever comes to that.” 

“What do you mean you 'beat him once’? Did you guys get in a fight?” 

“Oh, yeah. It was epic. You should've seen it. I secretly saved the world, but don't tell anyone.” 

“My lips are sealed… literally!” 

“That was such a dumb joke, kid, but kudos for trying! That's an 'A’ for effort.” 

“Oh, come one, it wasn't that bad!” 

“Thank you for not telling anyone,” Eddie says, sidestepping the issue. 

“Of course, Eddie.” Eddie is clearly avoiding telling him how much his joke about eating seals sucked, but Trevor lets it slide. 

They make it back to Eddie's apartment, and despite the rugged look of things, Trevor is truly happy. A roof is all he needs. And food. He's in no position to complain, and he doesn't really want to to begin with. It feels… homey. 

Eddie shows him to the shower and tells him to use whatever he needs except a razor (which he doesn't need anyway). The water is just on the warm side of hot and Trevor happily spends almost an hour in there, not even realizing how much time had passed. 

Eddie busies himself with cleaning up around his apartment. He's actually glad the kid is taking so long. It gives him time to think and get his place organized. By the time he hears the water stop, he's used online banking to set up a spending account which gets $1000 transferred from a savings account once a month. He puts Trevor's name and birthdate on the account and makes sure there's another login for Trevor to use on the website. He still has to go by the bank to use the ATM, but the card will come in the mail. He figures since the kid doesn't have an address and he's getting the card from Eddie in the first place, his own address works for billing and mailing. 

Trevor gets out of the shower feeling much better now that he's washed off the grime and gunk of the streets and the bay. He puts on his only other outfit and walks out to a mostly clean living room. 

“So what do you want to do now?” Trevor asks trepidatiously. 

“Now, we go shopping. I got your bank account set up, but the card won't be here for a week or two. I want to stop by an ATM and get you some spending money. Then I was thinking we could get you some new clothes and shoes, a new backpack, and maybe some books or whatever it is you like. What did you do as a kid? Is there anything you want?” 

“Well, i, uh, used to love playing video games. I like books. Maybe a yoga mat or something for meditation. Oh! And a new sleeping bag. I'd be honored if you let me sleep on your couch for a few days, but either way, I'll need something to sleep under.” The words come out too quickly and Trevor regrets saying half of what he said. When did his brain-filter disappear? 

“Sounds great. I'll get you all that. Couldn't hurt to have a cot, too. And a mess kit with those jelly fire thingys. I don't plan on you having to use any of the camping supplies, but in case you decide you've had enough and turn tail, I want you to have everything you need. And video games… let's see… does a PS3 sound good to you? Maybe we can find a PS4 that does retro. There are some really good games on PS3. Or you can have a computer. Maybe both, actually. Okay, so clothes, camping, electronics, books, meditation stuff and food. Did I forget anything?” 

Trevor is stunned. “ _All_ that stuff? Are you _sure_?” 

“Yeah, and more if you want. I've got money to burn and no better reason to spend it. Let me spoil you a little bit. You deserve it.” 

  


  


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Shopping takes all day. By the end of it, Trevor has ten sets of new clothes, 4 pairs of shoes (tennis shoes, house shoes, hiking boots and classy shoes), camping gear (even a one-person tent!), a yoga mat, yoga blocks, essential oils, a collection of 34 books (some of which Eddie told him he just _has_ to read), and more electronics than he expected. Eddie got him a new smart phone with Bluetooth earpiece, charger and earphones. Eddie couldn't decide what gaming system to get him, so he got him both a retrocompatible PS4, a retrocompatible X-Box One, and when Trevor couldn't decide on a laptop or a tablet, Eddie got him both – an iPad and an Alienware gaming laptop. He even got him a four terabyte external hard drive. He insisted it was worth it. Eddie also bought him a bunch of games– even entire series of them! Halo, Call of Duty, The Elder Scrolls Online, the complete collection of Elder Scrolls games, Prototype, Far Cry, Fallout, Infamous, Fable, Final Fantasy and Tomb Raider. Eddie also bought a new TV, saying he needed a new one anyways. Most of the big stuff, they had delivered. 

When they are through, Eddie's once mostly barren living room is filled with Trevor's new stuff. They are both exhausted, but Eddie powers through and hooks up the new TV and gaming consoles. They order Chinese takeout for dinner and Eddie makes them chocolate whey protein shakes with ice cream and real chocolate chunks in them. They play some of the games, and Eddie's new favorite is Prototype (go figure). They take turns playing Prototype in the crowded living room until sleep finally overtakes Trevor. Eddie decides to take the couch and let Trevor sleep in his bed. He carries the kid to the bedroom and tucks him in with his new sleeping bag. 

Trevor wakes up a bit while Eddie puts him on the bed. In his half-asleep daze he mutters, **“Goodnight, Dad.”**

  


  



	6. Lasher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lasher is sick, and Venom helps.

The first few days pass with an unexpected ease. Eddie and Trevor quickly develop a surprising familiarity, even as they get better acquainted. Eddie gets Trevor some essentials that he forgot the first day, like a toothbrush and his own toiletries. Trevor seems to favor the Axe brand of soap and deodorant, using Apollo to wash with and Phoenix or Kilo as his deodorant. He even prefers to use the Axe shampoo. Eddie doesn't really see the allure, but Trevor revels in his new scents, glad he no longer smells like the streets, the bay and unwashed sweat. 

Lasher has still yet to make an appearance, and Trevor says he doesn't talk much. Eddie wonders if Lasher has all the resources he needs to survive and wonders if he should take Trevor to the LIFE Foundation for scans and a checkup. His trepidations about what would happen to Trevor if the LIFE Foundation found out about him keep him hesitant to take Trevor there. Dora Skirth had said the were getting homeless people to sign legal agreements they didn't understand, and Eddie has a sinking feeling that they might try to enforce Trevor's contract, regardless of the state of things when he signed. 

It's on the fourth day that Trevor asks to see Eddie in his symbiotic form. Eddie isn't surprised, but he is nervous. They stand facing each other in the living room and Trevor is brimming with excitement as Eddie is slowly enveloped with Venom's imposing, muscular form. 

“It was you! You saved me from that shark the other day!” Trevor closes the distance between them and wraps his arms around Venom in a tight hug. Venom returns the hug gently and puts a hand on his head.

**_“Of course, child. We were searching for you. We will kill anything that tries to hurt you.”_ **

At that moment, a few tendrils – pseudopods, really – snake out from Trevor's back and curl around Venom, expanding the hug to better include Lasher. Though he is weak, he doesn't want to be forgotten in this moment, nor leave his affection unexpressed. The hug doesn't last, but for them it feels like coming up for breath after staying underwater in their human forms for too long. With their fresh breath of air taken, they let go and Lasher retracts his tendrils back into Trevor's body as Venom seeps back into Eddie.

“So, what do you want to do today, champ?” Eddie asks with enthusiasm.

“Maybe we could go hunting. Lasher's really hungry. I mean, I feel it too, but we're hungry in a way that normal food isn't taking care of.” Eddie thinks on this a moment. Trevor's been eating enough for five of him, but having gone so long malnourished, it's possible he needs to get scans done to see if Lasher has atrophied any of Trevor's organs. Then, an idea strikes him.

_Hey, V. Can you transfer nutrients and brain chemicals to Lasher through touch?_

**_Yes, that would help while he's too weak to hunt. We have doubts about their ability to hunt while they are so weak._ **

To Trevor, Eddie says, “Manifest one of those tentacles again. V's gonna feed you some of his nutrients and then we can go hunting when you're feeling a bit better.”

“Uh, okay. Yeah… I can do that... I think.” A single pseudopod forms above Trevor's right shoulder and extends towards Eddie as Venom projects his head and tendrils from Eddie's shoulders. 

**“Hello, Trevor,”** Venom says as Trevor all but gawks at the newly formed head. 

“Uh, hi, Venom. Wait! Can Lasher do that?”

 **“He can when he is stronger. Right now you need more than you are getting. Let us help.”** And with that, Venom's tendrils wrap around Lasher's pseudopod and a jolt goes through Trevor. The only thing he can compare the feeling to is like if he had an orgasm in his shoulders. His body is flooded with dopamine, adrenaline and phenethylamine until he nearly passes out from the intensity. It only takes a couple of minutes, and when Trevor becomes aware of his surroundings again, his skin is covered in forest green Symbiote and he stands a little taller than usual. He feels four pseudopods in his back and they feel like extra arms, but flexible and without fingers. Each of them are tipped in a spade-like formation that can be as blunt or sharp as Trevor wants. He has claws, but they aren't as big as Venom's. That could be because his hands are smaller than Venom's as well. When Trevor goes to the mirror to see what he looks like, he finds that his face is like a green version of Spider-Man's mask, no mouth and large opalescent eyes. 

**“Thank you, Father. Let's go hunt seals!”** Lasher says as he turns towards the apartment door. 

Eddie is quickly enveloped by Venom and they stand in front of the door, blocking Lasher from it. **“Hold on. We need to go to the harbor in human form. Then we can change form underwater. We think it would be best if we aren't seen coming from this apartment in our true forms.”**

Lasher is visibly disappointed and his pseudopods droop a bit before he lethargically transforms back into Trevor.

**_Aww! Look Eddie, he’s pouting. We didn't know pouting could be anything but aggravating, but it's kind of cute when he does it._ **

Eddie is filled with Venom's warmth and feels his own pang of sympathy as Venom morphs back into Eddie. 

“I know you're excited, and we can use that enthusiasm once we get to the water. In the meantime, do you think Lasher can form as a wetsuit? That way you can wear regular clothes over him and you won't be naked when we take our clothes off to jump in the water.” 

Lasher forms a black wetsuit with dark green flanks before Trevor can even imagine what to do. 

“Good, let's get dressed and go then. We can take my bike.” Eddie knew Trevor didn't need a helmet but he had bought him one the day before. His spare didn't quite fit Trevor's head right, and though it worked for the first couple of days, it was not a long-term solution. As if to protest this, Lasher formed a green motorcycle helmet with green arrows pointing backwards like four racing stripes over Trevor's head. “No way, buddy. Trevor's wearing his helmet so you can save you energy for seal hunting.”

Lasher's reluctance to recede was countered by his excitement about seal hunting. They'd never gone when at a decent strength before. Lasher felt like he could move so easily now! For that matter, Trevor did, too.

The trip to the Bay is pleasant. Trevor's senses are working on overdrive, and Lasher is magnifying his awareness of his surroundings. He's never had this much fun riding in a vehicle before! The wind in his face and on his body as they move makes it easy to forget how hard his life was just a few days before. It feels natural with Eddie, and despite it only being four days, Trevor feels like he's been with Eddie a lot longer. He hears everything, too. The wind in the trees, the thrumming of engines, the songs of the birds. It's all so vivid! 

They get to the water before Trevor is ready for the ride to be over, but a big part of him screams **_FOOD!_**

They eat twelve seals together, Eddie coaching Trevor in the water, using tendrils to carry ideas and thoughts from one to the other while verbal communication is inhibited by the water. They see a few sharks, but they're small as sharks go, and they don't bother them despite the blood they shed. 

When they're done, they sit on a small patch of rocks and talk and laugh about their little adventure. 

On the trip home, Lasher is tired, but sated. Venom and Eddie are happy and when they get home, they aren't too tired to order pizza and play Prototype until one in the morning, Lasher occasionally pantomiming with his tendrils as Eddie beats a boss.

  


  


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The next day, Eddie thinks hard about having Trevor around. Will he need a bigger vehicle? Should he get a new apartment so Trevor can have his own room? He hadn't wanted to move, but now that he has a good reason to, shouldn't he do what's best for Trevor and Lasher? What if they decide they don't want to stick around? Well, Eddie guesses, they haven't given any sign of wanting to leave and he shouldn't fret over having a larger apartment just because he might no longer have a kid. In the end he decides he needs to make some changes. Trevor said he'd rather sleep on the floor at Eddie's than in a hotel by himself. It would save money overall to get a new place and Eddie could move a little closer to Anne and Dan. But what he's really thinking about is a new car. Maybe an S.U.V. Something safe and roomy. After having the television delivered, Eddie decided he wanted a way to take care of those kinds of things on his own. So, car shopping, apartment hunting and furniture shopping once they have a new place. That works. 

The thing that is most adamant in his mind, no matter how he tries to ignore it is: is it too soon to talk about adoption? Eddie doesn't even know what all is involved in it. How long does it take? Are there any special requirements? Does Trevor need to change his name? Luckily, he knows someone who has the answers to these questions. 

He dials Anne's number on his phone.

She picks up on the second ring.

“Hey, Anne?”

“Hey, Eddie, what's up?”

“Don't be mad. I have some questions about adoption. There's this kid and I wanna help him out as much as I can.”

“Well, Eddie, there's a big difference between just helping someone out and adopting them. Are you sure about this?”

“I'm sure I want to adopt him, but I'm not sure whether or not he wants to be adopted. He's been homeless for five years and alone for two. He's used to doing stuff on his own, but I want to get him back into school and that means he needs a legal guardian. Right now, he has no one. I just want to educate myself about this so we can decide what's best for his situation. I mean, he could be an emancipated minor, but I don't know anything about that, either.” 

“Well, adoption could take around a year to finalize, maybe less since he has no parents or relatives to contest your custody. In the meantime, you could become his legal guardian as a foster parent. That would probably require you to take classes and go through a thorough background check. You'd have to have a place where he can have his own room and a sustainable income. I'm pretty sure you'll qualify without having to have a formal job, seeing as you're loaded now. There may be some other stuff, but that covers the bases. He can apply to become an emancipated minor, but that will take time, too. At least a few months, but it could be done in less than a year. Talk to him and see what he thinks about this before trying to decide anything for him. He needs to be involved in these decisions.”

“I know he does, Annie.”

After a long pause, Anne gathers the guts to say what's on her mind.

“Did you find Lasher? Is that what this is about?”

“Yeah, Annie. I did, and it is, but I would still want to adopt him, even if Lasher wasn't in the picture.” 

“That’s good. It's important that you care about the human and not just the Symbiote. I'm really happy for you Eddie. He must've really made an impression to make you like this.”

“Like what?”

“Sappy. You're always compassionate but not always this sentimental. I'm glad you found each other. It sounds like Lasher has a good host.”

“He really does. We all lucked out in that department.” 

“Well, I hope everything goes well. I gotta go, Eddie. I'll talk to you later.”

“Okay, Anne. Take care of yourself.”

“I will. Bye, Eddie.”

“Bye, Anne.”

Eddie hears a crash in the kitchen. He turns to see what's happened and finds Lasher surrounded by pots and pans on the floor and ingredients on the counter.

 **“Sorry, Dad. We thought we could make lunch. We just dropped a few things is all. We're still getting used to having extra limbs.”** Lasher began picking up the pots and pans as Eddie looked on fondly. 

“You know you don't have to do anything special, right? You're special as it is.”

 **“We know, but we wanted to do something special for you today. It's Day 5!”**

**_Don't fall asleep!_ **

_Shut up, V._

Eddie turns his attention back to the excited teenager. “So, um… I don't know how to say this, but would you want a legal guardian? I mean do you want me as your legal guardian?” Eddie waits for the anger, protestation or laughter. He hears none.

**“Yes! You're already our dad, so it makes perfect sense. When can we do it?”**

“It's a long process but we can try to start today if you want.” Eddie still can't believe this is happening. He's going to be a father. Not just Venom, but Eddie too. “Do you want to do that after lunch? It might be better if we wait to find the right lawyer and set up a meeting. It could make the process faster.”

**“Let's do that then! God! We're so happy! We really wanted to ask you about that, but we were afraid of overstepping our bounds.”**

“Well, you wouldn't have. If it were anyone else I'd want more time, but I know what I want and I want to take care of you.”

**“You take the _best_ care of us. So, can we order lunch instead? We're not the best cook and now we think we're too elated to concentrate.” **

“Of course. Just clean up your mess first, though.”

**“Yes, Dad!”**

  


  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You get imaginary points if you know what _Day 5_ is.


	7. Check-Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lasher goes to the doctor.

They spent the morning car shopping. Lasher wanted to sit in every car they looked at and Eddie even did a few test drives. Nothing felt right though. He didn't like the idea of not being able to take his motorcycle with him even when he's driving a car. So Trevor said, “What about a truck?” Now there's an idea. Eddie was really looking for something more family oriented like a 6-8 seater SUV, but a truck was… not a bad idea. He could easily lift his motorcycle into the bed if it was big enough. A four door would seat at least five, maybe six. Not a bad idea at all. Eddie eventually settles on a four-door Ford F-150 Raptor. Great horsepower, smaller engine than those bigger trucks. He chooses a shiny black one. He has it delivered since Trevor doesn't have a driver's license and they came on the bike. He could feasibly put the bike in the truck bed, but he'd wanted to get padding of some kind for the contact points. Eddie thinks, in retrospect, that he should've thought of that and brought Anne with him instead – but then, he probably wouldn't have gotten a truck. 

After they get home, they have a quick lunch of sandwiches, tater tots and whey protein. Eddie tells Trevor he has some things he needs to do with Anne and makes a few phone calls. Trevor joyously dives into The Elder Scrolls Online, oblivious to the outside world. The dialogue makes him giggle and he's happily slaughtering daedra when Eddie leaves with Anne. 

They get to the LIFE Foundation, and the CEO has dropped everything to meet with them. He says it's nothing he can't do later, but it still surprises Anne and Eddie. 

“So, what can I do for you today?” he says. 

Eddie starts with taking a deep breath. “We want to talk to you about Trevor Hernandez. We want to make sure that you aren't going to attempt to take custody of him or keep him against his will if we manage to bring him in for testing.”

Anne cuts in, “We know atrophy of vital organs is a concern for some symbiotic hosts, but we have reservations about the LIFE Foundation due to its history under Carlton Drake. We know you do some things differently now, but we would like to ensure that the durability of Mr. Hernandez's contract has expired, due to the state of the company at the time.” 

The CEO gives her a thoughtful, hard look. “I've reviewed Trevor's file and contract more than once. The contract currently maintains its durability, but we are happy to terminate it if you are willing to bring Trevor in for testing. We will abide by our previous arrangement, and if he allows us to study him, he will receive about 2.8 million dollars per year of study. Does that work for you?”

“This isn't about the money,” Eddie says, “but we're glad you see it our way. For now, we just want to get him medical care and make sure he and the Symbiote are okay.”

“That shouldn't be a problem. Why don't you bring him by whenever you're ready. I'll be happy to escort you all on a tour for him, as well. Just let us know before you come and we'll make sure everything's ready. We want our top scientists and best doctors on this case.”

“Of course, Mister Gabriel. That sounds awesome,” Eddie says with relief. 

“How does tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. sound?” Anne says, trying to pin down the medical appointment as soon as possible and knowing Eddie's availability for the time. 

“That sounds lovely. We'll mark the date.” 

Eddie, Anne and the CEO say their pleasant goodbyes and after receiving paperwork stating that Trevor's contract with the LIFE Foundation is terminated, Eddie and Anne leave the Foundation facility. They make it home reasonably soon and Trevor is still playing ESO, but now he has a large, mostly empty bowl of chocolate chunk ice cream in front of him. The volume on his laptop is up pretty loud, but he hears them come in and turns it down. 

Standing up to greet them, he says, “How'd it go? You guys do anything fun?”

“Yeah, Champ, we got you a doctor's appointment. It's tomorrow at 11:00, but I want us to leave here at ten. Sound good?”

“Where'd you find a doctor for me? Is it Dan?” Trevor says hopefully. He's really hoping this conversation doesn't go where he thinks it's going.

“No, Trev, it's at the LIFE Foundation. Don't worry, they can't do anything but help you as long as we're around. You stay with me or Annie the whole time, just to make sure. But you need medical care and the LIFE Foundation has the experience and facilities to best take care of you.” 

When that doesn't seem to help, Anne speaks up. “Carlton Drake isn't there anymore. The new CEO is a man named Mister Gabriel. We had your previous contract terminated, so if they want to study you, they have to have you sign a new one. Don't sign anything without me present and they can't touch you.” That seems to alleviate Trevor's physical tension. 

“I'm sorry, buddy, but you need to see a doctor. Lasher was sick and you're still recovering. Don't you want to make sure Lasher doesn't get sick again?” 

Trevor has a million reasons they could be fine without a doctor, but he knows Eddie wouldn't be doing this if he didn't need to. He doesn't want Lasher to be sick either. 

“Okay, I'll go. But no needles!!”

“I won't promise that, but if they can do everything without needles, they will. That, I can promise.” 

“Okay, Dad. Do you want to see this cool sword I got in the game? I want to show Anne, too.”

“Sure, kiddo,” Eddie says. 

“What kind of sword?” Anne asks. 

“It’s Rubidite! I bought it in a player auction.”

“What's Rubidite?” Anne asks.

“It's one of the best metals in the game. Better than voidsteel!”

“That does sound impressive!” Anne says indulgently. 

Within the next ten minutes, Trevor has shown them all of his weapons and armor in ESO and begun to branch off into Final Fantasy, explaining that those swords are more flashy. Before they know it, the three of them are playing Final Fantasy-X. Eddie tells Anne to invite Dan over, but he's working. Anne plays as Rikku and Eddie plays as Wakka, while Trevor plays as Tidus. They beat a few monsters and finish two quests before Anne has to go. Trevor insists on saving a copy of the game where they left off so they can pick it back up the next time Anne comes to visit.

  


  


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The next day, 10:00 a.m. comes too soon. Eddie is showered and shaved and spent an hour and ten minutes trying to wake Trevor up. His interruption of Trevor's dreams earned him a tentacle to the face. It was a tired slap, but it stung a bit. Eddie laughed it off and kept waking his son, undeterred. By the time Trevor is ready, it’s 10:18 and Eddie is waiting impatiently by the door. Trevor grabs a couple of protein bars and walks with him out the door. 

Eddie decides to take the truck today and they pick up Anne on the way to the LIFE Foundation. The trip is uneventful, but Trevor has fun playing with the automatic windows in the back seat. They have a setting where if you hold the button for more than a couple of seconds, the windows continue automatically, even if you don't hold the button down. Trevor has fun testing the limits of the windows and Eddie's patience. He's not sure if he's more annoyed that it's bad for the window motor or more annoyed by the fluctuation of wind whipping up from behind him, but he can't bring himself to tell Trevor to stop. He's like a little kid when he's like this, and Eddie's happier just letting him have fun than he would be if he took that away from him. 

When they get there, they're introduced to the head of medical research, the head of the Symbiote projects and a few miscellaneous specialists. As promised, the CEO takes the time to escort them on a tour of the facility and Trevor seems to enjoy it. By the time they get back to the Symbiote projects, Eddie's stopped worrying so much, though he's still a bit on edge, wondering if the LIFE Foundation will try to take his child. They are introduced to a doctor working with a neurotransmitter cocktail that should work as a supplement for the Symbiotes and possibly let the hosts maintain a normal diet without fresh meat and brains. She says the cocktail has to be in liquid form, so it can't be taken as a pill, but with Carnage, they are able to feed her by simply exposing her surface area to the chemicals. They ask if Eddie's willing to try a small dosage on a symbiote-covered arm to see if skin contact is all that's needed. Eddie agrees and the little experiment is a success. Venom feels better than he has since he last fed and though it hits him differently than eating actual brains, it seems to help a lot, even for being a small dose. 

Next, they do diagnostics on Trevor. When a nurse comes to him with a syringe for collecting a blood sample, Trevor goes stiff. Before anyone can react, pseudopods have erupted from Trevor's back and one has grabbed a paper cup from the sink area. “Are these sterile enough to use?” The terrified nurse nods, and Trevor quickly slashes his hand with another pseudopod and bleeds into the cup. “You can stick your needle in there. Not in me.” The doctor is about to protest about the damage it caused to Trevor's hand, but by then, the wound is already sealed up and mostly healed. 

They do imaging on Trevor and find that through most of his organs are fine, his liver is slightly atrophied. Not enough to worry about with Lasher's ability to reverse the damage. Eddie thinks Lasher probably did more damage while they weren't eating enough but corrected it when he could and saved the least vital for last. While the liver itself is vital, the small amount of it missing is nothing compared to that much of a heart missing. They ask Trevor some questions about his diet and appetite and his physical activity. They ask questions about how much Trevor sleeps and what times of day. They ask questions about if he has any aches and pains and what types of injuries he's recently sustained. Trevor answers all of their questions as honestly as he can and earns the occasional thumbs up from Anne who is trying to encourage him in this strange environment. 

When they're done with Trevor's medical check-up, they ask if he wants a dose of the neurotransmitter cocktail before he leaves. When Eddie tells him it's okay, he agrees and is given a larger dose on his upper left pseudopod than Eddie was given to help his more taxed system. His head swims with a weird sort of pleasure and satisfying fullness. He even feels less hungry than he had only a minute before. They give Eddie a three week supply of the neurotransmitter cocktail (one vial per day for each him and Trevor) in a large metal case. 

When they are done, Trevor asks if he can form as Lasher there, and the doctors give him the go-ahead, taking advantage of the opportunity to witness the symbiosis. Eddie talks to one of the doctor's to the side then turns to Lasher to find a mouthless grin on his face.

 **“We feel so much better, Dad! You were right. It was really a good idea to come here.”** The scientists and doctors beam at that, apparently happy to have done some good. 

“I know it was. I'm glad you're feeling better! Do you want to go meet your sisters now?” 

**“Sisters?! You mean the other Symbiotes are still alive?!”**

“Last I checked, they are. Doctor?” Eddie didn't want to talk about Scream. Better the kid didn't know for now.

The doctor in charge of the Symbiote projects turns to Eddie and says, “Of course, Mister Brock. Agony's doing particularly well. She's been bonded to the same rabbit for 22 days now.” 

It was only the third time that Eddie had come to see Carnage and Agony, but he'd been so busy with Trevor and Lasher, first, searching for them and more recently, caring for them, that he hadn't had a lot of opportunities to come visit. Now that things are settled down a bit, he hopes to see them three times a week, with Trevor and Lasher at his side. 

First, they introduce Lasher to Agony. They even allow the young man to pet the rabbit, under close supervision, of course. Vague emotions and memories come through the touch and Lasher turns to Eddie ecstatically. 

**“She remembers us!! She misses us!! We can't believe she misses us! We thought she was angry the last time we saw each other.”**

Eddie chokes up a bit before he finds his voice. “You were both going through a stressful period in life. Now, you're both healthier and in a better place. I bet she's glad you're doing so well.” 

**“We’re glad she's doing so well, too!”**

Eddie asks the doctor, “Can I hold her?”

The doctor huddles with a few other scientists for a moment before answering. “We don't see any reason why not.”

One of the scientists steps forward and picks up the rabbit, handing it gingerly to Eddie. Eddie is encased in Venom and sweetly cradles their daughter. The doctors let them have a good ten minutes of holding and cooing at Agony, singing a lullaby and placing a gentle kiss to the rabbit's head before the doctors insist he has to let them put her back in her glass cage. Though he is hesitant to let them, he knows she's safer here and that threatening the staff would not help him take care of his children better in the long run. 

On the way to Carnage's room, Lasher wraps a pseudopod over Venom's shoulder, trying to comfort him. He knows it's hard for him to be away from his children so much, and suddenly, he realizes why Eddie was always so open, inviting him into his life like that. He truly misses his children, and Lasher had been missing Venom without knowing what he'd been missing. The Symbiote only vaguely remembered his father, but the dreary feeling of emptiness only lifted when Trevor met Eddie. 

Carnage seems active today. She twirls in on herself over and over. The scientists say she isn't normally this energetic. When Venom touches the glass of her chamber, she covers the glass around his hand, reaching for him through the impassable barrier. 

But when Lasher touches the glass, she recoils. Suddenly, there's a loud thud from the chamber and the glass cracks. It doesn't open, but spiderwebs can be seen where the structure of the glass chamber has lost its integrity. The scientists usher them out and try to calm the Symbiote using low resonant chords and a small dosage of chemicals. They aren't sure what caused it. If Lasher had somehow offended the creature, if Carnage was emboldened by Lasher's presence and was attempting an escape or if it was a reaction they were completely misinterpreting. They run diagnostics and it _seems_ like it was an agressive reaction, according to the chemicals the Symbiote produced. It's adrenaline is unusually high, as well. They ask Venom and Lasher to return to their human forms in hopes it will help, although they are already out of the room. They place Carnage under lockdown and usher Eddie, Anne and Trevor out of the Symbiote projects area. 

On their way out, the CEO pulls Eddie aside for a moment. He ensures no one is listening, and Eddie waves at Anne and Trevor to keep walking. “There was a break-in at our off-site storage facility in the Mojave Desert. The blue Symbiote was taken.”

Eddie's fury was only matched by his fear. Venom rippled under his skin. “I thought you said he was in a safe place!”

“If it had been anyone else, he would've been.”

“Do you know who took him?”

“S.H.I.E L.D. They raided the facility early this morning and took everything having to do with the Symbiotes that they could get their hands on, including the blue Symbiote. I've tripled security here and started a legal claim against them. If they answer to the government and don't pull some kind of ‘national security' bullcrap, we'll have it–”

“– _HIM_. His name is _Phage_.”

“We'll get Phage back as soon as humanly possible, Mister Brock. I promise we're doing everything we can to make that happen.”

“You'd better be! I'm trusting you with my _children_. Do you have kids, Mister Gabriel?”

“My personal life is not the issue at hand, Mister Brock, but I assure you, I understand what you mean. We won't let this happen again. We're currently working on using recent legislation to allow us military recompense should they try to attack our facility here. As it is, we can hide things from them but we can't fight them. That may change, if we have our way. As of this morning, we are currently preparing a secure location within the mountain to house the Symbiosis Department. In the meantime, if you'd like to claim paternity and sue for legal custody of Phage, we can help you do that.”

“Thanks, I'll take you up on that. I just– I need to clear my head before I sign anything, but let's get the ball rolling on that.”

“As you wish, Mister Brock. I wish you a pleasant day.” 

And with that, the CEO turns and walks towards the legal department.

  


  


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Eddie is quiet on the ride home. He asked Anne to drive and is sitting in the back with Trevor will who keeps looking over at him curiously, concern plastered across his face. He knows that if Eddie wanted to talk about it, he would, and that if it affects him, then Eddie would let him know in good timing. He smiles inwardly, remembering the look on the nurse's face when he manifested his pseudopods, but that inward smile is quickly crushed when he looks at Eddie again. Not knowing how to comfort him, or even what's wrong, Trevor looks out the window and watches the trees and buildings go by.

  


  



	8. Check-Up Number Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie goes to visit his daughters and has a check-up while he's there. Then he gets some shocking news.

In three days, Eddie and Trevor go to see Agony and Carnage again.This time, they visit Carnage in their human forms and she doesn't seem as agitated, though she does shrink away from the glass when Trevor puts his hand to it. Trevor is allowed to hold Agony this time and she forms a strange texture on her feet, clinging to his clothes like a gecko and climbing and hopping all over his body, making him giggle in delight. Venom holds her again and sings a shortened rendition of 'Sweet Child of Mine’. She cuddles close to his chest and he holds her for eighteen minutes this time before the scientists ask to put her back in her habitat. They've replaced her glass cage with a larger glass habitat, including fake tree stumps and real foliage. They want to see how she reacts to a more natural environment. So far, in the day since they've made the change, she seems to be flourishing. 

They have no new news on Phage, but the legal team has put together a case for Anne to look over. The body of Scream was taken from cold storage as well when S.H.I.E.L.D. raided the Mojave Desert off-site facility. They convince Eddie that they need DNA samples to prove paternity and match those with their records of Phage's and Scream's genetic codes. Venom's DNA passes with flying colors, asexual reproduction lending it's favor. Eddie's DNA is still being analyzed but they noticed immediately that some of his DNA read as remarkably not human, easily identified by a triple helix pattern similar to the quintuple helix pattern in Symbiote genes. 

**_That would be us._** Venom informs him mentally. 

_you've been changing my DNA? That's a big part of who I am, V._

**_You are part of ‘us’ now. So is your DNA._**

_Venom! Why'd you do that?!_

**_Don't be so melodramatic! Your genetics were inefficient before. Now they are less so._ **

Eddie continues to mentally grumble and complain, but he has to admit to himself: it gives him a better paternity case this way.

**_See?_ **

The scientists want to run more tests and give him a check-up like they did Trevor. What they find is nothing short of breathtaking. 

“The tensile strength of your muscle fibers are four times stronger than a normal human's! Your tendons and ligaments have unprecedented elasticity! Mister Brock forgive me for jumping to conclusions, but you now qualify as being super-human.”

“That's just Venom. He would make anyone superhuman.”

**_Would not! You're special._ **

“No, Mister Brock. These aren't Symbiote fibers or tissue. You have these qualities on your own. Venom may have given you these qualities, but this is not typical of symbiotic hosts. It's like what Agony does for the rabbit. He's changing you.” 

**_What he said._ **

“Does this have anything to do with my abnormal DNA?”

“We can only assume, although it is just an assumption at this point. Maybe he's physiologically altering your structure.”

**_Spoiler Alert: it's both!_ **

“Since when do you know what a spoiler alert is?” Eddie asks out loud. The scientist assumes he's talking to Venom since the words were incredulous and unprompted. Seeming to realize this, Eddie says, “Sorry, not you, doctor.”

The rest of the check up is mostly normal, though some of his organs, like his heart, are more reinforced with denser muscle, according to the scans.There's no sign of deterioration or atrophy. His blood tests come back normal and his blood pressure and kidney and liver functioning are at prime health. He already knew V was helping him out like that, but sometimes it's good to have external reassurance. 

The one problem that is a major issue has to be addressed by an oncologist. Apparently, he has a brain tumor. It's tiny, likely suppressed by Venom's interference with his body, but even with Venom eating away at it, it's still there. At one point, he'd thought Venom was a hallucination from a brain tumor. Now it turns out Venom's saving him from one. He doesn't know what to think or do about it. It would be much more devastating if he didn't have Venom, but aside from emotional support, Venom is very capable of altering his body. In a way, it almost seems like a hiccup. Venom keeps assuring him that he will fix it, but what if there's nothing the loyal Symbiote can do about it? It's either too much to psychologically handle or it's nothing. To Eddie, there is no in between with this. 

So he puts it in a mental box to worry about later. By the next scan, he'll have something more to go on. 

The next thing the doctors request is another DNA sample from Venom. The first series was for the legal case. This one is under a whole different matter.

They want to clone Venom. 

Eddie wonders if that's really a good idea since they'd need to find a host for him, but they assure him it will be fine and the clone can go from host to host in the animal testing until they find a compatible human. Not only would they be able to find someone using DNA, blood type and physiology matching Eddie's, but if they can find another host for a Symbiote identical to Venom, they may be able to unlock the secrets of a good match for Agony and Carnage. Maybe even Phage if they ever get him back. 

When Trevor hears that they need to have matching host and Symbiote pairs for research that will help his sisters, he quickly volunteers to help. Eddie scolds him, saying he needs to really think about everything they might ask of him before volunteering. Trevor says he'll even deal with needles on a regular basis if it means helping his sisters. The scientists tell him he has to sign a contract to participate in any research and tell him he needs to talk to Anne Weying before he can sign anything. They have specific instructions from her that both she and Eddie have to approve it before Trevor can even see the agreement. 

They manage to get a few more minutes with each of Venom's daughters before leaving and Eddie and Venom are particularly proud of Agony's apparent intelligence. They can feel her thoughts by touch and she seems to understand her situation surprisingly well. She knows the rabbit is like a stepping stone until she can safely be given to a human. She takes good care of her current host and seems to grasp a basic concept of symbiosis that Riot never learned: if the host is stronger, the Symbiote is stronger. 

That night, Eddie begins apartment hunting online. He's looking for something with room for Trevor. Three or four bedrooms, two and a half bath, full kitchen and dining room, large windows, fire escape, washer/dryer and spacious living room. Mostly what he finds are multi-story lofts. Okay, he can work with that. Smaller than a townhouse, but not by much. There are even some close to where Anne and Dan live. 

When Eddie goes to bed that night, he dreams of a new place with Travis and Lasher happy and healthy – with Agony and Carnage playing video games with Lasher – with Anne and Dan coming over for dinner – and he smiles in his sleep.

  


  



	9. Loss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something horrible happens.

Eddie hasn't patrolled in a while. He was preoccupied with his children and wanted to set a good example for Lasher. Now though, he wants to dig into bad guys and let his rage out. His concern over finding out about his brain tumor has him restless and angry, and his knowledge that Phage was taken absolutely enrages him. That fury only grows by the day, and today has been a day from hell. He finally told Lasher about Phage and it exhausted him to comfort his distraught son while he, himself, was so out of sorts. So tonight, he goes out on patrol. Heads will roll, unless he eats them first.

Eddie tells Lasher to stay home and whatever he does, don't follow him. He walks around the city as Eddie and morphs into Venom when he's ready to make a kill. He stops two rapes, interrupts a violent mugging and carries the mugging victim, an old woman, to the nearest hospital. He also stumbles across some teenagers shooting up in an alley. Donning his scariest face, he tells them not to do drugs. They will likely blame it on a drug induced hallucination and possibly say it's their subconscious minds reflecting the anti-drug campaigning they've been fed their entire lives. One of them pisses himself. 

All in all, Venom has had an eventful night. It isn't until he's almost home that he falls into the trap. A woman in an alley is screaming bloody murder. She has red hair and wears a leather outfit, like a full-body motorcycle jacket. Eddie rushes down the ally to help and is hit with the most pain he's ever had in his life. 

It surrounds him from all sides and makes his ears bleed. It isn't until he feels like he's going to pass out from the pain that he realizes there's a screaming noise, like a machine or… an MRI…

He realizes what's happening a moment before it happens. Venom is pushed from his body by the shock of the sound, and Eddie is left alone in his head. He reaches for Venom but is tasered by an electrode the red-haired woman throws at him and kicked away from Venom by a large man while a vacuum container sucks venom into the reinforced glass chamber. They begin to kick Eddie and hit him with nightsticks while he's still on the ground, but the red-haired woman stops them, even breaking one of her cohorts’ wrists when he ignores her and hits Eddie again. 

Soon after they leave, Lasher appears in full form, bending over Eddie and checking his vitals and injuries. Eddie is breathing, but his head has a large gash that is profusely gushing blood onto the concrete. Lasher holds it with a pseudopod and the spade forms into a glob, repairing the injury and closing the wound. He repeats this action for a few more wounds before Lasher recedes leaving a crying Trevor trying to comfort his dad. 

Eddie is so out of it that Trevor can't even get him to focus his pupils. Trevor pulls out his cell phone to call Anne and when he's done, he carries Eddie bridal style at a run to the nearest hospital. 

Eddie has a concussion. A bad one. The doctors do what they can to help, but it's really Eddie's enhanced body that recovers him from the damage. The scientists at the LIFE Foundation were right. Even without Venom, he has enhanced healing. It doesn't stop the bruises though. They're too large and too severe to disappear overnight and Eddie's body seems to prioritize like Venom would, taking care of the most vital injuries first. In seventeen hours, Eddie is released from the hospital to Anne's care and Trevor goes with him to Anne and Dan's townhouse. 

Trevor feels awful for not helping, but he was so afraid of losing Lasher. It was really Lasher holding him back, keeping Trevor from jumping in and suffering the same fate. After all, if he had, who would've saved Eddie? 

Both Eddie and Anne tell him it's not his fault. They say he did the right thing and was smart about it. He doesn't feel smart. He feels like a coward. Anne takes off work for a week for her ‘family emergency’. She watches Eddie almost constantly and Dan would be jealous if he wasn't doing the same thing. Dan is constantly checking and recording Eddie's vitals and testing his reflexes and eye dilation. Eddie seems to be improving, but it takes the whole week before he's well enough to go home. 

The first thing Eddie does is have Anne drive him to the LIFE Foundation to check on his children. They're safe and sound, although they both had fits the week before. Agony seized up and barely ate for three days, and Carnage showed unprecedented aggression. The timing matches up with when Venom was taken, and though the scientists are intrigued by this finding, they maintain a somber and respectful attitude around Eddie, Anne and Trevor. They do scans of Eddie, finding some damage and extremely heightened immune response. Eddie's white blood cell count are off the charts. They update Eddie on the status of the legal case, saying that without Venom, it doesn't look good for a paternity claim, though if any human not hosting Venom could sue for paternity, it would be Eddie. 

They also update him on the status of the clone of Venom. Out of 352 trials, only one Symbiote is viable, buy it is growing and responding to nutrition and low-register sonic therapy treatment. Apparently, the right sounds can be used to soothe the Symbiotes. Eddie doesn't ask what they did to find that out. He doesn't want to lose his strongest allies to his anger.

The scan of his brain shows bad news. In the week since he's lost Venom, his brain tumor has grown. Not by much, but at a concerning rate. 

The only thing that cheers Eddie up is spending time with his daughters and son. Agony seems unusually affectionate, as if trying to alleviate the pain he feels at Venom's absence. She forms her feet gecko like and sticks to his chest. He holds her carefully and kisses her head.

Eddie cries.

  


  



	10. Low

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie's not doing so well.

Two months pass.

Eddie doesn't answer his phone. He barely eats. He barely sleeps. He's lost interest in everything and no matter what Trevor and Lasher do, nothing seems to help him. 

Eddie has a few dozen voicemails from the LIFE Foundation. Without Venom, he doesn't see the point in his usual check-ups. 

He does visit Agony and Carnage though. Carnage has been moved to rabbits now and seems to have a turnover rate triple that of Agony's original. Either they're all really bad matches or she _really_ doesn't like rabbits. 

Once, Carnage even tried to bond with Eddie but quickly receded when Eddie gave her ‘the look’. Even without Venom, Carnage seems to have some respect for Eddie, never biting him when he holds her, despite her violent history of fiercely biting the LIFE Foundation employees. 

Agony seems sad to Eddie. Though she eats well and has normal sleep patterns, Eddie feels an aura of sympathetic morosity when he holds her now. Maybe he's just projecting. 

Anne finally convinced him to get a check-up. He doesn't answer any of the LIFE Foundation's voicemails, even though he listens to them. He calls them to set up an appointment and they tell him to do a walk-in today, that they'll have the oncologist and their best doctors ready and waiting. In their voicemails they seemed genuinely concerned about him. Maybe just because he's the only known compatible host for Venom and his clone. Again, he could be projecting. Without Venom, he doesn't really see a point to _him_. 

His saving grace is his children. They're the only reason he doesn't shut down entirely. He has no interest in playing games with Lasher and Trevor anymore, but he likes to watch him get excited or “boo” the game when he gets his character killed. The only thing he can't watch is Prototype. The memories are too painful.

He talks with Anne and makes arrangements for Trevor to live with her and Dan if anything happens to Eddie. He should've thought of that before, but with Venom, he was never really worried that he wouldn't be there for Trevor and Lasher. Now, with the threat of cancer, he's always worried. 

His check-up goes about as expected. His cancer is flaring up like a bottle rocket and his depression is damn near killing him. They say his brain tumor is about twelve times its original size. He doesn't see a point to even trying to fight it. 

They tell him he needs treatment immediately, but he doesn't want to listen. They tell him that his immune system is still working overtime and he ignores it. They tell him he's going to die unless something is done. He welcomes it.

They tell him they need a new host for Venom's clone. He listens.

Venom's clone is old enough to function on his own and has had success in animal trials. According to their tests, Eddie's about as compatible with the clone as he was with the original. They propose that if Venom was fighting Eddie's cancer, it's probable that Venom's clone will be as effective. To prove this point, they had already done one week trials twice in which the clone had reduced tumor size in cancerous rabbits. The LIFE Foundation has shown considerable concern for Eddie's cancer treatment. 

Eddie still thinks it's just because they need a host for the clone. 

Finally, Trevor forms as Lasher and links a pseudopod to Eddie's hand, transferring memories and emotions. He's begging Eddie to take the Symbiote. So he does.

The LIFE Foundation gives him paperwork to sign. A limited release of liability, and a contract for participating in human trials. He agrees to meet them once a week for testing and a medical check-up in exchange for more than they were willing to pay Trevor. Perhaps because it's with the clone. Perhaps because if he doesn't sign, he'll likely die from the tumor.

They place him in an isolated room with the Symbiote and release the airlock of the Symbiotes glass tube. When the Symbiote rushes forward towards Eddie, he doesn't flinch. If the Symbiote kills him, it would be a good death. At least he tried. 

What he doesn't expect as the Symbiote soaks into his body is the familiar warmth and comfort that washes over him.

**_Eddie?_ **

_V?_

**_I missed you._ **

  


  



	11. Anti-Venom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie gets some good news.

Venom is almost never quiet nowadays. It seems like he has constant questions, relearning things he'd found out months before. Technically, as a clone, he never found out in the first place. In fact, aside from his personality and his feelings for, familiarity with and memories of Eddie, Venom's like a brand new Symbiote – because he is.

He still feels paternal and protective of his children, but instead of being the serious father, he's more like the fun-loving uncle now. He actively plays with Lasher, and not just video games. They've started to play Frisbee in the park at night and sometimes a version of beach volleyball meets water polo while swimming in the bay. With his pseudopods and better swimming though, Lasher almost always wins. 

Eddie even finds himself being able to play Prototype, and Venom's enthusiastic identification with the main character and loving encouragement of Lasher have broken at least two lamps and part of the couch. Eddie only smiles though. It's like having the love of his life back, and he realizes with grave recognizance that that's _exactly_ what it's like. He can't face his true emotions without crying, and with him, the clone mourns the loss of the brother he never knew. It's less than a week before Eddie realizes he was in love. – _Is_ in love. He can't give up hope yet. 

Though the new Venom seems to understand that he isn't the Symbiote Eddie fell for, he is nothing but encouraging to Eddie and respects the part of Eddie's mind and heart that are only for his beloved predecessor. 

The next time Eddie gets a call from the LIFE Foundation, he answers it. They say they have important news that they can only tell in person. Venom isn't suspicious, though and Eddie takes comfort in his trust of the people who cloned him. They say they want to do scans again and check on his brain tumor while he's there. Eddie figures it's better to get them done frequently than to put them off. Lasher stays at home this time, at Eddie's insistence.

He takes the motorcycle there and lets Venom form his helmet and jacket. It pleases the new Symbiote to help out like this. The drive seems to go by quicker than usual, and they're at the LIFE Foundation before they know it. 

The scans are shocking. 

Eddie's tumor has completely disappeared. The new Venom completely cured his cancer in about a week. When they do scans of his digestive system, they find it seems more efficient. His muscles have noticeably grown, and though he hasn't been working out, he's beginning to look like a bodybuilder. Venom says he's been picking up where his predecessor left off, making improvements to Eddie's body. 

The scientists ask to do scans of them separately, and surprisingly Venom is okay with it. He carefully exits his host and fluidly moves to the anaerobic environment they have ready for him. The airlock closes behind him and he moves in front of the scanner like it's a normal routine. Eddie would guess that should've been expected – this version of Venom probably did this regularly while in the rabbits – but Eddie is too busy coping with the sudden feeling of aloneness. They take Eddie over to another area, where they perform scans and strength tests on him to determine his limits without the Symbiote. Without conditioning himself for it, Eddie can easily life around 500 lbs. 540 if he strains himself. His cardiovascular stress test goes about as well, not showing any change for half an hour of all-out running. His speed is high for a human, roughly 18 miles an hour at a constant pace. 

When they return to the room where Venom was being scanned, they are in for a surprise. Venom's inky glistening black coloration has mostly changed to a shimmering white with black accented tendrils folding in on himself. Eddie stands by the airlock, and the white Symbiote returns to him after the hiss of releasing air pressure and the tiny clunk of the small glass door moving. 

When the Symbiote joins with him, he forms fully into their symbiotic form. He is a good foot taller than he was as Venom and his musculature slightly more bulky and defined with dark vein like patterns that almost resemble a web or spider design centered over the chest . His face is black with black coloration over the mouth, nose area and the position of Venom's eyes while the eyes themselves are normal human sized and milky white. 

The moment passes and the Symbiote retreats into Eddie’s pores, leaving a stunned room and a confused host. 

**_We are Anti-Venom._** the Symbiote's voice says, resonating in Eddie's head.

 _What?_ Eddie doesn't like the idea of the new Symbiote being the antithesis of his beloved. 

**_It was your logic. We heal and are made from Venom. Therefore, we are Anti-Venom. We are sick of being called 'the new Symbiote’ or 'Venom's clone’. Call us Anti-Venom. Please._ **

The scientists around them are oblivious to the exchange and are trying to get Eddie's attention, asking questions and requesting additional scans. 

Eddie is tired of scans by the end of the day but all-in-all, it was a good day.

Before Eddie leaves, he visits Carnage and Agony. They seem cheerful as ever and Carnage only recoils for a second before jumping out of his containment and onto Eddie, nibbling at his jacket collar and clinging to his chest. It's the happiest he's seen Carnage in the time he's known her. Apparently, they've been feeding her well and the rabbit she's inhabited for six days now has doubled in size. Eddie almost wants to tell Carnage, “it's not the size that counts, it's how you use it,” but doesn't think the connotation would work out for him, given the other circumstances in which that particular phrase is used. 

Then, he almost forgets to ask the doctors what the urgent information is about. But he remembers. He is led to an imaging room in the part of the mountain that is still under construction, and the CEO himself comes to speak with him.

He gets right to the point.

“We think we found the missing Symbiotes. We found rumors of unstoppable soldiers working on black ops for S.H.I.E.L.D. They've been sighted in seven countries on three continents. We weren't going to tell you until we were sure there was some truth to them, but two days ago, we got these.”

Pictures show up projected on the wall. A black-clad soldier with a machine gun is walking through a jungle, black pseudopod tentacles shielding him from the rain. He has a white spider logo on his chest and his armor includes spiked shoulder pads and a black mask helmet strikingly similar to Lasher's face. 

“Look familiar?” 

Eddie just stands there wide-eyed in shock as the pictures change and show a man laying across the ground holding a sniper rifle. In the zoomed in version of the photo, his blue body glistens in the sun with accents of gunmetal gray and black. 

“Is that…?”

“–We believe it's Phage, the blue Symbiote.” 

“He's beautiful….” 

“As touching as that is, the important part is finding them. You can have a few copies of our photos of them if you wish. Our I.T. department ran some quite illegal maneuvers to get you a name and address. Flash Thompson in Queens, New York. We believe he has Venom and is using him to kill for the government. We intend to put a stop to that for _everyone's_ benefit.”

“So you plan to go after him?”

“Unfortunately our hands are tied. That's where you come in. We want you to confront him and see if you can get Venom to come back to you peacefully and abandon his current host. Your new Symbiote –

“– Anti-Venom. He hates being called the ‘new Symbiote’.”

“Where do you get these names?”

“From them.”

“Very well. Anti-Venom will be your backup in case things get violent. He should be able to shield you and heal you if need be. We're still hoping for a peaceful resolution, but given S.H.I.E.L.D.'s history where Symbiotes are concerned, it's best to be prepared for a fight. The LIFE Foundation has to maintain plausible deniability, so _if_ you decide to take action, please don't tell us.” 

“You got it, Mister Gabriel. Anything else I can take home?”

“As a matter of fact, yes. You can pick up your photos, Thompson's address and your usual medication at Claire's desk in the new symbiotics lab on the way out. Greg, here will show you the way.” 

“Yes, sir,” said the CEO's security guard.

That evening, Eddie shows Lasher and Trevor Anti-Venom's new look. Lasher is excited that the Anti-Venom has erased the cancer from Eddie's body and loves that the atmosphere in the house is so much better. It hasn't felt this good at home since before Eddie found out that Phage was taken. Though Venom isn't back, the hope that he will be back is strong and Eddie's mirth is a sight for Trevor's sore eyes. Eddie and Anti-Venom show Trevor and Lasher the pictures of the Symbiote soldiers, pointing out Phage's vibrant blue, grey and black form and Venom's new spider-like design. It's then that it hits home to them that their family just may be reunited. Lasher gives him a hug, and he feels like he's falling in love with his children all over again. 

  


  



	12. Flash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie goes after Venom, in hopes of bringing him home.

Flash knows he's being followed. Even if he hadn't noticed himself, his Symbiote keeps diverting his attention to his freshly acquired stalker. The Symbiote speaks to him in concepts, not really talking to him per say. It's almost like figuring out what a pet wants based on the noise they make and the way they use their body language to communicate. 

The stalker recently changed his hair to blonde and let his stubble grow out. He knows Flash is onto him, but he still follows Flash, undeterred. Flash knows that with his Symbiote, he could take anyone in a fight. The man doesn't look aggressive, nor does he leer at Flash. If anything, he carries a pained expression, like someone kicked his puppy and he's pleading for compassion. 

Flash finally decides that enough is enough. From the impressions his Symbiote gives him, this guy is important for some reason. He looks a bit familiar, like Flash saw him on TV before, but Flash can't remember what he was on. It could be he just has one of those faces.

After a week of this, he's tempted to confront the man, but he feels like there's a right way to do this. For some reason he feels like going out for a night on the town. He shaves and showers, using his best-smelling aftershave and spiking his crew cut hair up like he did in high school. The lightning bolts shaved into his the sides of his head are clear to see when his hair is spiked up. Finally he dresses in a casual-chic look and leaves his apartment to stalk his stalker. 

He knows he's there because the Symbiote can feel him. 

_Okay, Sticky. Lead the way. I want to get this guy alone to talk but in a public setting. I know you know what to do._

The Symbiote gives an enthusiastic affirmation and practically drags Flash down the street. He's walking quickly, but he slows down whenever he feels his stalker is too far behind. He instinctively knows where to walk, and when he's reached his destination he gives a mental protestation. 

_A gay bar? Really, Sticky?_

_⟨⟨Familiar⟩⟩_ is the impression he gets from his Symbiote. 

  


  


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Eddie can't believe his eyes. His quarry is going to a gay bar he used to frequent in New York before he met Anne. _I never would have guessed. I guess you can't tell what someone's into just by looking at them…_

Eddie waits for 190 seconds after Flash has gone in before he makes his way to the door. He already knows the layout of the place, so that could get him an advantage over Thompson if the Army vet doesn't know. He hopes they don't have to fight. He can't imagine trying to hurt Venom. 

He walks up to the bar, a few seats over from where Thompson has settled with what looks like a mug of beer. Eddie can smell it, though. With his enhanced senses he sometimes has more information than he knows what to do with. He can smell that it's not beer. It's apple juice. 

Eddie orders a chocolate milk with a shot of Irish cream. He leans over the bar to get a better angle on Thompson's face. He's clearly nervous. Either it's his first time in a gay bar or he knows Eddie's been following him. Eddie's good at sneaking around, blending in with a crowd and disappearing into nowhere. He's even got this whole shapeshifting thing down pretty well. But Thompson is a secret agent with a Symbiote. Eddie knows his own can feel it when Venom's nearby. It's likely that Venom knows when Eddie and Anti-Venom are near as well. 

Thompson glances at him, then quickly looks away. He's clearly onto Eddie. Or he's checking him out. Maybe both. 

**_It's both,_** Anti-Venom supplies helpfully. **_His eyes dilated when he looks at you and his pheromones change. We can smell him from here._**

_Hey, Ace, shut up, will ya? It's just his aftershave. …He does smell lovely though…._

**_We know. Your Other smells lovely, too. We should ask him out. Then we can trade places and you will have what you truly want._ **

_Hey, Ace, don't worry. Just because I want him back doesn't mean I want to lose you too. Can you both inhabit my body until we find a new host for you? Maybe someone who isn't working for the dicks who beat me up and stole my other half?_

**_We can do that. Shame to waste a good host, though..._ **

  


  


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Flash is startled when the familiar blond man walks up to him directly, taking the seat next to him. Something in him says _⟨⟨Trust⟩⟩_. 

“Let me buy you a drink. Your next juice is on me.” The man smiles at Flash, and he gets butterflies in his stomach. Since when does Flash get nervous about men? It's not the confronting an enemy kind of nervous. It leaves him confused but somewhere inside him is _⟨⟨Familiar⟩⟩_ and _⟨⟨Home⟩⟩_ and _⟨⟨Love⟩⟩_. 

His Symbiote knows this man. It suddenly occurs to Flash that his stalker wasn't stalking _him_. He was stalking _the Symbiote_! Flash's world turns upside down. He doesn't feel threatened anymore, but he knows he should. 

“Is that a 'no’?” the man says to him. _Fuck!_ He wasn't trained for this. He's been staring openly at the man for nearly a minute without even realizing it.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare. Of course you can. I didn't mean to be rude.”

“You weren't,” the man says. “I'm Eddie, by the way. What's your name, cutie?”

  


  


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Eddie's old charm is coming back like riding a bike. If he can pick up Thompson, he'll have his way to get Venom alone. He's certain Venom will come back to him in a heartbeat, given the chance. Anti-Venom agrees, but is nervous about the approach. He knows what Eddie really wants to do, but he also knows Eddie wouldn't do anything like that until he gets Venom back. There's room for both Symbiotes, but again, Anti-Venom is hesitant. 

“Uh, hi Eddie. I'm Flash. So, do you live around here?”

“Moving kinda fast there, buddy. But I guess that's where you got your name, huh?”

“What? OH, SHIT! That's not what I meant! I was just trying to start a conversation. You look familiar and I was wondering if I'd seen you before. I'm really sorry for the misunderstanding. I'm really new at this. It's my first time in a place like this.”

“It's okay, I was just giving you shit. Sorry if I came off wrong.”

“It's cool. You're really handsome.” _Where the **fuck** did that come from? ⟨⟨Me⟩⟩_ “I mean, um… guess I can't take that back, huh? What I meant to say was…”

“–Its okay, you don't have to say anything. Let me do the awkward talking. Why don't we go to the patio out back. There are some secluded benches in the garden by the fountain. That way we could get a bit of privacy. We can talk about whatever you want. There's no pressure for anything. You can walk away whenever you want.” 

Flash smiles and blushes. “Somehow I don't think I’m walking away from this.” 

“What do you mean by that?”

“I just mean, I'm not going to walk off...without your number or something…” Flash's false recovery of his thoughts was apparent, but it was true. Flash wants to keep tabs on the big guy.

“This sure is your first time. You're nervous as hell,” Eddie says bluntly.

Flash winces a little. “You could say that.” 

Eddie takes Flash's hand and leads him to a fancy stone bench among the bushes in front of the fountain. It's well lit, has a great view and above all, is private.

Flash follows Eddie to the bench and sits next to him. There's room to set their drinks between them. Flash moves the drinks to the ground by the bench and feels a deep, penetrating _⟨⟨WANT⟩⟩_. 

Eddie's not sure what to make of Flash's body language. It's all over the place. Nervous, open, defensive, forward. He's sending so many mixed signals, and Eddie knows Venom has something to do with it.

They talk for a bit. Flash went into the service after high school and has a hard time adjusting to normal life. He hates bullies, because he used to be one, and he loves sports. 

Eddie tells Flash that he's an investigative journalist and used to be on TV. Flash exclaims that that must be what he's familiar from, but Eddie can tell he's hiding something. 

They talk about family and Flash says he doesn't have anyone anymore. His father, Harrison, was an abusive drunk, and a cop at that, so they couldn't even go to the police about it because they always had Harrison's back. His mother died of cancer not long after Flash graduated high school. By then, his little sister had disowned the entire family so she could move on with her life and get away from all the abuse. Flash doesn't blame her. She has severe PTSD from it all, and though she doesn't blame Flash (who always protected her), he's one of her triggers, simply by virtue of having been there when their dad would go into a rage. Flash says he doesn't know why he's telling Eddie all this — he's usually not this open with anybody. 

Eddie says it's okay and that to make it even, he'll talk a bit about his family. He tells Flash about his cold and emotionally abusive father – about how he would work so hard at everything, becoming a student with top grades, a star athlete, a successful journalist and an attentive son. None of it was ever good enough, because his father blamed him for killing his mother. It wasn't his fault. She died a natural death while giving birth to him. But Eddie's father always called it murder – that he stole her life so he could live. 

Eddie talks about his kids a bit. He says they're a godsend – a true blessing in his life. His son Trevor lives with him and is a happy go lucky teenager. His two daughters are younger, but he doesn't have custody. He visits them often, though and loves to watch them grow. He says he lost a son. He's a bit older than Trevor and was taken, but Eddie's working on getting him back. Flash is surprised the man has kids that old. He doesn't seem to have the years on him to have an older than teenage son himself. He's got to be 35 at the oldest. He must've had them when he was barely of age. 

It isn't long before they brush hands between them and they sit a little too close together. 

Flash doesn't know what he's doing. He's supposed to be confronting this man about following him, not getting too close to him. 

But he can't stop himself. He feels _⟨⟨Must⟩⟩_ and _⟨⟨Closer⟩⟩_ and _⟨⟨Need⟩⟩_. He's drunk on pheromones. He must have it bad for Eddie because his body is reacting in a way that's strictly reserved for females. 

The feeling is just too strong, and before his brain even knows what he's doing, he's kissing Eddie with a warm, gentle passion.

  


  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can still change Flash's haircut. I felt the crew cut would be appropriate for someone still in the Army, but if you have opinions on his hair, let me know. I'm very interested in reader input on various aspects of this story.


	13. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flash makes a decision and Eddie goes home.

Eddie's warm tongue explores Flash's mouth while the man sucks on his tongue and slides his own against Eddie's. They've been going at it for about three minutes when they come up for air. Heavy breathing fills the area around the fountain as the two men catch their breath. 

Eddie sensed something when he kissed him. It was almost a cry for help. He starts to kiss Flash again, aggressively this time and he finds it. A heavy weight of drowsiness and confusion with a hint of psychedelic disorientation comes from his Other. 

“My beautiful baby! What have they done to you?” Eddie says with despair. Eddie kisses him more gently this time, raising his hands to cradle Flash's face.

Flash is startled for a moment before he realizes that the man is searching his eyes for something that isn't him. Then he knows. That's why this man is so important to his Symbiote. It used to be _his_ Symbiote – Eddie's trusted partner. 

Then, there's a slight ache in his jaw where Eddie's hands meet his skin. 

**_We can fix it!_** Anti-Venom tells Eddie. **_It's impure! We must Purge the Impurity!_**

Eddie feels his hands start to heat up, and he concentrates on Venom – on the small piece of his beloved that he can sense within the man before him. 

Flash starts to burn. It starts out as a dull ache but quickly turns to the heat of a firework burn, coursing through his veins. He audibly gasps before screaming, “OWW!!”

Then, something incredible happens to Flash. Venom speaks.

**_Free! We missed you, Eddie! We missed you so much!_ **

“You can talk?!” Flash says out loud. “Why didn't you say anything before?”

**_We couldn't. The drugs in your body kept us subdued. Almost catatonic. We would have been permanently lobotomized if you had taken those pills._ **

Flash thought back to the pills on his dresser that he never takes. He always meant to, but it never seemed right. He was functioning just fine. Why fix something that's not broken.

Then he thinks back to the injections. Every time he rebonded with his Symbiote, the doctors at Project Rebirth give him a series of shots. _They were drugging his Symbiote!_

They had said the medicine was supposed to help the bond so that they wouldn't reject each other, but it was all a lie! _How could they do this?_

**_They wanted a weapon. Nothing more. Nothing less. Together, we were the weapon._ **

_You can read my thoughts, can't you? You're sentient?_

**_Yes. As sentient as you._ **

Eddie can tell they're talking. Discussing something that has Flash on the edge of tears. He doesn't say anything, afraid to interrupt their thoughts, but Flash's eyes refocus, and he looks at Eddie. 

“I'm _so sorry!!_ I wish I had known! They said it would help! They said—”

“—i know you were lied to. It's not your fault. But the big question is, what are you going to do now?”

“I don't know, but I'm not going to let it happen again! I promise I won't let them do it!”

“Hey, hey, shhh. Calm down, buddy. You're making a scene.” Eddie hugs him close and Flash clings to him as he cries against his chest.

  


  


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Flash Thompson is furious. He agreed to be part of human experimentation, but he did not agree to drug a sentient being into catatonia. He didn't agree to using an intelligent being as a tool. Venom has needs, even desires. And now that Flash can hear him loud and clear, he shares those desires. 

Flash walks into the compound with no small stomp to his steps. His posture says “DON'T FUCK WITH ME!” and no one does. He walks right up to the council table, slapping his stack of manilla folders onto the surface. 

“I'm done. You used me. You didn't tell me this suit was a sentient being! You said it was alien technology, well guess what! An organic living thing is not a tool for you to dehumanize and mold into a mindless weapon!!”

“You really think that thing has any semblance of intelligence? It's clear that you haven't been taking your meds.”

“Because I knew there was something wrong. You wanted to permanently chemically lobotomize an intelligent being while using me to do it. I did not sign up for this. I signed up to defend my country, not take advantage of an innocent and helpless creature!”

“Watch your tone, Agent! You do not have any authority here and that _thing_ is not anywhere near innocent. Do you know how many lives it's taken?”

“A lot less than it saved. I've seen his memories. He betrayed everything he stood for and the rest of his entire race, fighting his firstborn to the death so that our planet would be safe from invasion! He's a goddamned hero, and you are the ultimate slime! You have committed what I can only call rape – and you used me to do it!” Flash pounded his fist on the table, punctuating his words.

“You will stand down, soldier! That's an order!”

“Read the papers, dipshit! You can't give me orders anymore, because I'm not a soldier anymore!”

“What is this?” The general said as he began to look over the papers. “The Accords?”

“I've retired from the military and registered as a superhuman civilian. You can't touch me or my Symbiote as long as the U.S. remains in accordance with the Sokovian Accords. If you violate that, you will be court marshalled and imprisoned in an international penitentiary as per Agreement 32, Section 5, Paragraph 8. Come after me, and you'll find out how dangerous we really are.”

“Is that a threat?”

“It sure is. A _conditional_ threat. I have a right to defend myself from military provocation if I do not directly endanger civilians and as long as I cooperate with the U.N. –Agreement 54, Section 2, Paragraph 16. You have nothing to fear if you don't violate the Accords.” 

“And where are you going to go? What are you going to do, now that you have no job and no future?”

“I'm going to go home.”

  


  


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Flash is packing in his living room. He certainly had a right to lose his temper, but it probably wasn't the smartest idea. He made a very powerful enemy today, but it bought him his freedom. 

He doesn't honestly know where to go. When he said he would go home, he was thinking of Eddie – or maybe Venom was. Maybe it was both. Maybe it doesn't matter. They want the same thing, the same person. Now that Flash can see Venom's memories, he has a hard time not having feelings for Eddie. They may be based on Venom's feelings, but he's seen almost first hand how wonderful Eddie can be. It's hard not to love him.

Okay, so maybe it's too soon to use the big “L”, but Flash is definitely heading that direction. 

Eddie won't see him the same way though. He never got to see Flash as if he were part of his being. Maybe that's for the best. There's a lot that Flash is ashamed of. Sure, he made up for it the best he could, but in the past, his actions and words beat down on people – people who didn't deserve it. He tried to be a hero. He's a decorated military veteran – even lost his legs in Iraq – but he still ended up helping destroy the helpless. It makes him wonder how many missions he's run that weren't at all what he was told they were. 

**_It's not your fault. You tried._ ******

Flash has to take a break from packing so he can sob into his pillow. 

Then his phone rings. 

It's Eddie. 

He answers it as quickly as possible, in the middle of the second ring. 

“Hello?”

“Hello, Flash? Where are you? Where'd you go?”

“I'm at home. I'm packing. I don't know where I'm going, but I've got to get out of here. I've considered Philadelphia, but I don't want to separate you and Venom. Will you come over? I feel like we need to talk.”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever you need, buddy. I'll be there.”

“I'll text you the address.”

Flash texts Eddie directions and gets back to work packing. He doesn't even know how he's going to pack all of this stuff on his motorcycle. The bike was a gift from Steve, after he'd stolen it one too many times in the name of protecting America. The original owner has a unique respect for that. He should probably pack less stuff anyways, but it's hard to give up his belongings if he's going to go across the country. He doesn't know yet though. He might be staying right where he is. He'll see.

  


  


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When Eddie gets to Flash's apartment, the place is a mess. Clothes are strewn across every surface of the room, and Flash has a few open suitcases neatly packed but almost overflowing. Flash's face and eyes are red as if he'd been crying. He probably was. 

“You don't know where you want to go?”

“I want to be near you. For Venom's sake. You shouldn't be separated and I'm sorry I took him from you. I didn't know.”

“I know you didn't. Maybe you can stay with me for a bit. We'll get you a hotel room nearby and you can hang out at my place. You're welcome to my couch if you want to save money, but I bet you want your own space.”

“Couch is fine. I'm freshly unemployed so I don't really have the extra cash for a hotel room and getting an apartment.” 

“We'll figure something out. Why don't you go clean yourself up a bit. I bet you'll feel better after a shower.” 

“Thanks, Eddie. For everything.”

“You're welcome,” Eddie says genuinely. “Don't forget to wash behind your ears,” Eddie jokes, hoping to lighten the mood. 

Flash smiles at that and goes to the bathroom to shower. 

Eddie remembers that Flash mentioned he has a motorcycle. Eddie came to New York on his trike. Anti-Venom seems unusually resistant to sound, but it'd be cruel to put Venom through a plane ride. _Road trip it is, then_ , Eddie thinks to himself. He could probably find a place that sells motorcycle cargo trailers and they could fit some of Flash's things in that way. Eddie didn't bring much to New York, so he's got some room in the cargo trunk of the trike. It's manageable. They can spend tomorrow packing up the rest of Flash's things so that movers can manage it easily when it's time to get his big stuff out of here. Eddie could always replace the stuff for him though. It really depends on what Flash wants. 

Flash comes out of the shower wearing nothing but a towel. He starts rummaging through one of the clothing piles and Eddie can't help but admire him. He can see Venom rippling through his bare skin and it turns Eddie on more than he expected. Then it occurs to him that Flash isn't familiar with Venom's full range of abilities. 

“You know, V can form as clothes while you look for some. Not that I mind the view. I just want you to be comfortable.” 

Venom ripples through Flash's skin again and Flash chimes out, “No need, found them!” Sounding much more cheerful than before. He dons some boxers, pulling them up under the towel and turns to Eddie. Eddie can't help but walk towards him, getting up in his personal space and stealing a kiss. Flash puts a hand to the side of Eddie's jaw, drawing him closer and widening the kiss. Eddie steps back and looks at him. 

“Are you okay?” he asks with concern.

“Yeah, I'll be fine,” Flash says as he wipes his eyes. “I'm just really glad you found me.” He kisses Eddie gently on the lips before returning to his packing.

  


  


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The next day, they prepare the house for the inevitable movers and get on their bikes to head for San Francisco. They only make two stops at motels on the way to San Francisco. On the second one, they get a single queen sized bed instead of two full sized ones. It's comfy, but they spend all night maintaining a respectful distance from one another. Even in their sleep, they only hold hands, afraid to cross any lines they can't uncross. 

When they make it to San Francisco, they are both exhausted from riding and more than a little relieved when they finally park and head upstairs to Eddie's apartment. 

Lasher, in full form, rushes Eddie when he walks through the door, hugging him with his arms and all four pseudopods. Eddie hugs him back and breathes in the scent of suffocating Axe, happy to be home with his child.

  


  



	14. Axelson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rico Axelson walks into the LIFE Foundation.

Rico Axelson walks into the LIFE Foundation with purpose. He knows they are the most experienced with Klyntar outside of Project Rebirth. He doesn't trust Project Rebirth anymore.

He's seen the footage from Thompson's resignation – the enraged outburst of accusations. The general didn't even try to deny them. It was painfully obvious that Thompson was telling the truth. That's why Axelson pulled the same thing Thompson did, registering with the Accords as a civilian.

Axelson knew his odds of success were limited when he walked into the building. Even if the LIFE Foundation could help him, what are the chances they will?

He talks to the receptionist to find out who he needs to talk to. He says he needs to talk to whoever's in charge of Symbiotes. He isn't told anything at first. Then he manifests a blue-bladed Symbiote covered arm. He doesn't mean it to be threatening, but he can see the fear in the receptionist’s face. The receptionist calls a scientists to come and escort him somewhere else in the building. The security guards stay close, though. His little display had not gone unnoticed, and he has no doubt that if anyone's prepared to fight a Symbiote, aside from S.H.I.E.L.D., it's them. 

The scientist brings him to a large office with a small conference table. They sit at the table and wait. It isn't too long before Mister Gabriel himself comes in and sits at the head of the table, opposite Axelson.

“You have a Symbiote,” the CEO says matter-of-factly. “Why did you come here?”

“We need help. The government has been drugging us – drugging the Symbiote – and we don't know where to turn. We want to get whatever treatment we can to help repair the damage. My Symbiote’s… hurt.” 

“We may be able to help. We'll need to do scans and run some tests, but we'll do our best. Someone important to this company has been looking for you. Are you opposed to meeting with a third party?”

Axelson doesn't know what to say. “Who's looking for me?”

“The original host of the Venom Symbiote. He thinks of your Symbiote as one of his children because it is the offspring of the Venom Symbiote. We don't have to call him. Not right away. But I am obligated by contract to tell him that we've encountered the Phage Symbiote. The circumstances of our encounter are up to you. What assurances can you give me that you won't harm any of my staff? What assurances can you give me that you aren't currently working for S.H.I.E.L.D.?”

“All I can give you is my word.”

“Then that will have to do. Greg here will show you the way to the Symbiotics Department. Don't get lost.”

Axelson follows the security guard to a portion of the building that is cut off from the rest. They go through four layers of vault doors before entering a large warehouse area and arriving at what looks like a glass-walled, high tech doctor's office. Greg stays with him the whole time, not taking his eyes off Axelson for any amount of time. He barely even blinks.

Before long, five doctors come in, and one begins to examine him, measuring his height and weight and checking his pulse, blood oxygenation and blood pressure. She checks his lymph nodes, looks in his ears, nose and mouth and tests his reflexes. They draw blood and ask for a urine sample. Once again, Greg doesn't leave his side.

They run various scans when he gets out of the bathroom, checking him for everything from foreign objects to radiation. They use hand-held devices that sound like low-toned whale songs, focusing on his abdomen while two of them look at the imaging of his torso. 

Finally, they ask him to manifest the Symbiote over his skin. Once he's completely enveloped, they run all of the scans again and take even more blood. They ask him to produce a sample of the symbiotic tissue for analysis, so he shoots a small amount of webbing into his hand and gives it to them. They seem genuinely surprised by this action, and he wonders if all Symbiotes can do that. His learned it from Venom who in turn learned it from Spiderman while on a mission in Washington, D.C. with Thompson. He's not sure how many Symbiotes there are but he knows of at least three. Venom, his own and the yellow one they gave to Donna. She went rogue shortly after getting it, utilizing all of her skills and talents to disappear, just like they had trained her to. 

He waits in the exam room with Greg while the scientists are going over the results of his tests. It takes them over an hour and a half to get back with him, at which point, he's trying to make small talk with a stoic and wordless Greg. Finally, in an attempt to garner some sort of reaction from Greg, he compliments his butt, saying “Great ass, by the way.” That earns him a sly smile but nothing else. 

The doctors come back in. They give him a few injections and make him drink something that tastes god-awful, and tell him to come back the next day. They can give the Symbiote everything it needs to survive, but it's the Symbiote who has to cleanse its own system of the drugs. Axelson feels a bit lost. How is he supposed to do this?

Before he leaves, he asks Greg for his number. Greg doesn't give it to him, but he does say “See you tomorrow,” and Axelson guesses he'll take what he can get. 

In town, he finds a cheap motel and settles in for the night. He tells his Symbiote ‘goodnight’ but doesn't even know what to call it. What did Gabriel call it?

_⟨⟨Phage⟩⟩_

  


  



	15. Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flash agrees to stay with Eddie. Then he agrees to a physical.

Eddie feels better when Trevor gives them the medicine. Eddie shows Flash how to administer it, forming a coating of Symbiote over his arm and putting the medicine on the surface, one drop at a time until the vial is empty. He can tell Venom feels better too, rustling under Flash's skin and even giving Flash's eyes a temporary hue of opalescent white. Flash sighs in relief.

They decide Flash can stay in Eddie's room for a while, sharing a bed like they did on the road. They work on moving Flash's things up the stairs of the apartment complex while Trevor busies himself with preparing dinner. He fixes a full breakfast-for-dinner feast: eggs, waffles, French toast, bacon, omelets, sausage-in-blankets, oatmeal and chocolate whey protein shakes. 

By the time Flash's belongings are safety tucked away in Eddie's room, dinner is served, and Flash eats more than he has in a long time. There's a distinct sensation of hunger, and he's certain it has to do with Venom getting back on kilter. Trevor talks throughout dinner, telling Flash all about his Symbiote and how they go seal hunting to help the Symbiotes get all the nutrients they need. Flash had been surprised when they walked in to the apartment to another Symbiote, but he could feel Venom's affection the moment they saw Lasher. If Trevor hadn't been a stranger, Flash would've scooped him up in a hug on instinct. 

Since Trevor thinks of Eddie as “Dad”, but is indirectly related to Flash, now that Flash carries Lasher's parent, and he's taken to calling him “Uncle Flash”. Eddie seems amused by this, and Flash doesn't know what to think. The entire situation is so unusual and so familiar at the same time that his head would spin if it could. As it is, Venom is surprisingly helpful, helping Eddie keep his bearings in what should be a disorienting situation. Mostly, he just feels confused and has a deep sense of **_home_**. 

It's occurred to Flash that he should give the Symbiote back to Eddie, but from the looks of things when Eddie was showing him how to take the medicine, Eddie has his own Symbiote. Somehow he can feel their Symbiotes attraction to each other, though not as clearly as his own attraction to Eddie. 

Flash can feel how much Venom misses Eddie and it makes his own heart ache. They hold hands a lot and Flash can feel the subconscious overload of exchanged thoughts, as if Venom and Eddie are conversing by exchanging entire sets of memories. It makes Flash feel a little better that they can mentally link, and he knows how much it does for Venom to see Eddie happy and healthy and sense it from Eddie's mind. Flash had a sense that their separation was very hard on them both, though in very different ways. After all, Eddie wasn't the one drugged into incoherence and subjugation. Flash still has a hard time not blaming himself, but Venom keeps saying **_'Not your fault’_** and **_‘You're a hero’_** and **_‘We love you, Flash’_**. 

They don't talk about how long Flash will stay with them. No one knows yet. Flash knows he doesn't have anywhere else to go except back to New York, and he's just not ready to entertain the thought yet. But he's a little shocked when Trevor tells them at breakfast the next day, “We need a bigger apartment.”

“I know, Trevor. I'm working on it. I haven't narrowed it down to one place yet.”

“We should go look at apartments today. A six bedroom apartment with a pool!”

Eddie gives Trevor a look. “I think six bedrooms is kind of a lot. Why don't we look for four. I've had my eye on a loft near Anne and Dan's neighborhood. We'll have plenty of space there and it's not too far from the bay, so we can walk there if we don't have to worry about time. What'd'ya think?” 

“ _Perfect!_ We need a place where Flash and I can have our own rooms.”

Eddie chokes on his food. He isn't anywhere near ready to assume that Flash will be staying with them, much less consider his options as far as rooming go. Eddie gags a little and dislodges the food from his throat. Flash would find it funny if Flash wasn't having a similar reaction. Flash wasn't expecting to stay with them long term, but it seemed that Trevor assumed he was part of their household now. Truth be told, if he _does_ stay, Flash doesn't want his own room – he loves sharing space with Eddie – and for that reason alone, he hopes they don't get a new place anytime soon. 

Eddie doesn't argue. He just clears his throat and says, “You have a good point. But I plan on getting a bedroom big enough for at least one more person either way,” shooting a nervous look at Flash. Eddie isn't sure Flash likes their current arrangement, but even without any sex, he loves sharing his bed with the man. “It's settled then. We'll look at bigger apartments or lofts soon and get moving. Sound good, bud?”

“Yes. And a place with cable,” Trevor says seriously. 

“We have cable.” 

“But the new place might not, so we have to look for it.” 

“Okay, ‘and cable'.”

“Thanks, Dad!”

While Trevor clears their plates and gets to work on the dishes, Eddie pulls Flash into his bedroom. Eddie tackles Flash onto the bed and kisses him roughly. “You staying for a while?” Eddie asks 

“I hope so,” Flash says earnestly.

“Long enough for furniture?” Eddie asks, grinning.

“Do you want me to?” 

“I want you to share my bedroom at the new place and help me pick out furniture. I want you to stay with me for the foreseeable future, and I want to take our relationship to the next level.” 

“Right now?!” Flash asks, surprised. “I guess we can be quiet….” Flash starts pulling off his shirt. 

“Not what I meant, lughead!” Eddie says with amusement. “Will you be my boyfriend?” 

“Umm, yes! Of course! I mean I thought we… I dunno. Do you want me to be?

“Why do you think I asked?”

“Yes, I'll be your boyfriend. I just have um… I've never been in a relationship with a guy before. I'm new at this.”

“That's okay, we'll take it slow. At least, after we move in together after only a few days of knowing one another.”

“When you say it like that, it does sound like we're moving kind of fast. I don't want to change that, though.” 

“It's settled, then. We'll look at apartments and buy furniture together, and you get to be my body pillow every night!”

“Is that a promise?” Flash says with a smile.

“You bet it is!”

Flash kisses Eddie passionately, and Eddie moans into his mouth.

  


  


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It's the next day when Eddie gets a call from the LIFE Foundation. They're requesting another private, urgent meeting. The last time they said something like that, they had information on Venom and Phage's whereabouts. Eddie hadn't forgotten about Phage, but it seemed best to deal with one problem at a time and recover in between dealing with them. He tells them that he's bringing in Venom and his current host to see the kids and that if things go well, would the LIFE Foundation consider letting him join the study and compensating him with close to their previous offers? They say that they'll have to know all the details, but assuming everything is in order and that he's a permanent host, they're willing to match the offer they've given Eddie and Anti-Venom. Eddie inwardly celebrates, pumping his fist and screaming “YES!” in his mind. He knows how much it bothers Flash to not be the breadwinner, and the study itself could help them care better for Agony and Carnage. 

On the drive there, Flash is curious. He didn't realize Eddie's young daughters were Symbiotes in the care of the LIFE Foundation, but now that he thinks about it, he should've guessed after meeting Lasher. Eddie said he has four kids: two younger daughters that he doesn't have custody of; Trevor/Lasher and one older boy that was taken. He doesn't know who the last one is, but he's almost certain it's another Symbiote. Venom won't talk about it yet, so whatever's going on, it's private. 

Before they get out of the truck, Eddie stops Flash and asks if he'll let the Life Foundation check out Venom and give him a physical. He says he doesn't know that everything's back to normal with the Symbiote and he wants to make sure there's no lingering damage from whatever S.H.I.E.L.D. did to him. Flash agrees wholeheartedly – he feels so guilty that he was a party to Venom being hurt that he'd cut off his toes if he thought that would help the Symbiote. Venom laughs in his head and sends him a warm feeling of affection. 

When they get into the building, Mister Gabriel is waiting for them. He greets them and Eddie introduces him to Flash. Once Flash says he wants to get a check-up to make sure Venom's alright, Mister Gabriel expresses his gratitude at Flash's presence and willingness to help the Symbiote. 

“But first, let's go visit the girls. I want to introduce them to Flash and show them that their Daddy's back.”

“As you wish, Mister Brock. Right this way.”

The walk over to the new Symbiotics Department is interesting. It's clear that part of the mountain is still under construction and some of the hallways are more clearly cut from rock. They have to go through four sets of vault doors to get there. In a way the area is similar to the old labs: large open area filled with glass rooms. But in other ways it's all new. The ceilings are higher, the rooms look more cozy and chic, like something out of Star Trek or a modern dentist office waiting room. The look of mad scientist dungeon that the old labs had are much less inviting than this new, more secure section of the LIFE Foundation. 

They see Agony first and Eddie cuddles her close before handing her to a hesitant Flash. When Flash starts to say he doesn't think he should hold her, Venom takes over his arms, gently snatches the rabbit from Eddie and holds her close. Venom feels immense relief at being able to hold his child again and Flash can't help but feel it with him. They hold and cuddle the rabbit for about twenty minutes before the scientists insist they let Trevor have a turn and return her to her habitat. The habitat is larger now and has its own crickets that she can hunt at her leisure. There's a real wooden tree stump and some kind of moss or grass that fills the flooring of the enclosure. 

Carnage isn't happy that her father has a new host. She gives Eddie a soft nuzzle, but when he makes to hand her to Flash, she swipes with a clawed paw, scratching deep lacerations into Flash's hand before jumping away and fleeing to the other side of the lab. Lasher is able to soothe her and put her back in her enclosure while Venom fixes Flash's hand good as new. Then, the doctors take Flash to an exam room with imaging equipment to give him his check-up. 

It is then that Mister Gabriel leads Eddie and Trevor to a conference room where they are introduced to a few different people. The new head of HR had asked to meet them (as they were practically celebrity at the LIFE Foundation), and the new head of security wants to meet them in case of any further incidents. In case there is ever a reason they would cross paths, the head of security wants their first meeting to be under amicable circumstances. The also meet a man named Mister Axelson, who was never far from Mister Gabriel's personal security guard, Greg. Once the two department heads left the room, the remaining people in the room got seated, except for Greg who Eddie just realized he has never seen sitting down. 

“Mister Brock, I agreed to give you an update as to when and if I found new information about the Phage Symbiote. Mister Axelson here is the current host of that Symbiote.” Trevor's smile was ear to ear and he seems elated, staring openly at his brother's host. The CEO waits for Eddie's shock to wear off before continuing. “Unfortunately, there are complications. The Phage Symbiote was poisoned and despite our best efforts, we can't seem to help the poor creature. It seems to be in an untreatable state of catatonia.”

“I know,” Eddie says. “I can sense it from here. Do you mind, Mister Axelson?” Eddie asks, gesturing with his hands for Axelson to move closer. “I'd like to help my son, if you don't have any objections.” 

“What are you going to do?” Axelson asks.

**“Purge the impurity.”**

  


  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It just occurred to me that the ages of the characters have not been explicitly established except for Lasher, so here they are: 
> 
> Eddie Brock (Anti-Venom) is 32.
> 
> Trevor Cole Hernández (Lasher) ís 16.
> 
> Flash Thompson (Agent Venom) is 21.
> 
> Rico Axelson (Phage) is 19.
> 
>  
> 
> Also, I've updated my tags to include plans for future chapters.


	16. Abode

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Axel gets to know his new family and the guys go apartment hunting.

Rico Axelson lets out a blood curdling scream. It only takes a second before Greg has pulled out his sonic firearm, but he can't pull the trigger without hurting both Symbiotes. The others have backed against the far wall, trying to distance themselves from the apparent altercation. Axelson's eyes turn opalescent white and a fierce growl of pain erupts from his chest.

It's only a few moments and then Axelson is panting hard and saying, “I'm okay! I'm okay.” Though Greg isn't entirely convinced, he lowers his weapon but stays on alert.

The voice in Axelson's mind is screaming **_HUNGRY!!_** but there is a voice now. He's never heard his Symbiote speak before and he's relieved that it can. 

Eddie looks over to Mister Gabriel and says, “He'll need that medication you made for the Symbiotes. Phage is weak and hungry. Maybe you should give him some scans and tests, too – just to make sure the toxins are out of their system.” 

Mister Gabriel looks disconcerted at first but acquiesces. “Certainly. Just don't… don't do that again. Give us some warning.”

“I'll try to remember that.”

  


  


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Flash is ecstatic. He wanted to get regular check-ups for Venom in the first place, but now, according to the contract before him, he could actually make some serious money doing it. 

He signs after he reads the whole thing. It doesn't occur to him to get a lawyer because he feels he has a good sense of what the contract entails. 

“It's the same contract we've given Mister Brock. The only difference is that your name is in place of his and Venom's name is in place of ‘Symbiote Subject Three’. It's really a good deal,” the lawyer for the LIFE Foundation says as Flash neatly writes his signature. 

Flash thanks them and is led down the hall to visit with Agony while he waits for Eddie and Trevor to get back. Then, he sees something he didn't expect at all.

“Thompson!” Axelson's voice rings out. “What are you doing here?”

“Axel! Good to see you! I take it you aren't here on S.H.I.E.L.D. business.”

“Nah, man. I gave them the cold shoulder. Took a page out of your book and used the Accords.”

“Glad to hear it,” Flash says as he gives him a hug. Axelson was about to protest but Phage gave him a feeling of relief when he embraced the host of his Symbiote's father. 

“Are you getting medical care here, too? I just got all those drugs burned out of my system.”

“Yeah,” Flash says. “Hurts like a bitch, doesn't it?” Then after a moment, “So, I take it you met my boyfriend, Eddie?”

“He's your _boyfriend_? He's buff, dude. Good catch. I'm not really that into guys, but I'd tap that.”

“Yeah, it's actually my first relationship with a man. I was never attracted to men until I met him.”

“Makes sense, dude. The guy's a real looker. Hey, do you want to go to lunch when we're through here?”

“Sounds great! I'll be there. You still have my number?”

“Sure do.”

“Great. Text me when you're done and we'll go from there.”

The doctors who were waiting patiently as the Army boys chatted lead Axelson away, and Flash continues on towards Agony's enclosure. When he gets there, he's too late – Trevor's already holding the rabbit.

  


  


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“So seal hunting, huh?” Axel says nervously. “Somehow I was imagining McDonald's or something.” Axel is standing there in the blue and black wetsuit Phage formed around him and though he's comfortable in his own skin, he can't help but stare at Eddie's muscular form and feel a little skinnier than he actually is.

They're at the water's edge, looking over the bay. Trevor is anxiously waiting, not wanting to jump in until Axel does. Flash has no such reservations, and the inky skin of Venom can be seen breaking the surface here and there, almost looking like a small, finless orca. 

“It helps the Symbiotes.” Eddie tells Axel. “You'd have to eat like fifty cheeseburgers to get even close to the kind of protein you need right now –and that doesn't include all the brain chemicals you need.”

“They gave me this medicine at the LIFE Foundation. They said it was a double dose.”

“That's definitely a great start, so maybe you won't need the brain matter as much, but you still need the meat. Just follow my lead and look out for Lasher. Despite having uncanny senses on land and being the fastest swimmer, he doesn't always watch his back. We'll all stay close. We're doing this in the daylight to avoid the nocturnal predators, so keep an eye out for boats and avoid them if you can. You ready?”

Axel looks over the edge of the pier into the water. Then, Lasher gives him a shove before jumping in after him.

Swimming with a Symbiote was always fun, Axel thinks – but swimming with a self-aware Symbiote beats all other experiences with water. _All_ of them. _Easily_.

Agent Venom is the first to catch a seal, and Phage is not far behind, catching two at once with outstretched arm blades. Anti-Venom hangs back and watches the other three, making sure to look out for predators and humans alike. They usually don't come during the day, but Flash is new at this and it's Axel's first time, so Eddie has three to look out for instead of one. 

An hour later, they're drying off and Axel and Trevor are excitedly talking about the whole experience. Trevor keeps talking about how Phage's blades are _‘so cool’_ , and Axel is asking how many times they've done this and when can they go again. They get dried off and head over to Eddie's place. 

Eddie says they have plans to go apartment hunting, and would Axel like to join? Axel says 'sure’, thinking that it would be good to walk around and get some exercise. They look at four places, and with each one, Trevor gets incrementally more excited. Flash is mostly concentrating on master bedrooms and kitchens, while Eddie is focused more on the layouts. 

Axel is surprised when they offer to have a room set aside for him, for when he wants to visit. He understands though. Phage doesn't want to leave them at all, much less go back across the country. Axel doesn't really have anything to go back to in New York. He no longer has to be there for work and his apartment was entirely shitty compared to the places they've looked at. Plus, his healthcare at the LIFE Foundation is here in San Francisco. The more he thinks about it, the fewer reasons he has to stay in New York. He could send most of his stuff here by mail and stay in a guest room or at a motel until he finds a job of his own. 

The fifth and last place they look at is leagues better than the others. It's the place Eddie's had his eye on for a bit. It's a multi-story standalone loft with five bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms, full kitchen with (dishwasher and new appliances) and dining room, living room, den, rooftop garden with a picnic table and a hot tub, cable, washer/dryer and jacuzzi tubs and shower stalls in every full bathroom. The entire top floor is the master bedroom and has an attached kitchenette and wine bar, a small room like an office or a huge walk-in closet, lots of space and a floor-length balcony. The second and third floors are identical. Two nice sized bedrooms joined by a spacious bathroom and a small room by the stairs that can function as a sitting area or small common area. Back behind the bathrooms are small laundry rooms with washers and dryers and those rooms connect the closets of the bedrooms, giving one four ways to go from one bedroom to the other, if you include the floor-length balconies. The bottom floor is the largest and has the kitchen, dining room, den and living room. The living room, den and all of the bedrooms have fiber-optic cable and though the den is smaller than the living room and has less natural light, it is a little more private and would make a good gaming room. 

The only catch is that it's not for rent. It's for sale. Eddie doesn't put much thought into it. It's perfect and he can always rent it out if they end up finding a better fit. 

So he buys it. 

The seller has been having a hard time finding a buyer and with Eddie not even bothering to haggle, it's a no brainer for her. She does her end of the paperwork within the next day, and within two days of Eddie looking at the place, it belongs to him.

  


  


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Axel goes back to New York to get his place ready to move out of and has his things mailed to Eddie's new address. Now that Phage is more involved in his life, Axel has become more aware of the dangers of sound. It seems like it was just an annoyance before, back when Phage was basically in a coma, but now, it's downright painful. He packs his luggage and takes a bus on the way to San Francisco, avoiding the sounds that a jet engine would make. 

When he gets there, Flash, Eddie and Trevor are still staying at their old place. They've bought living room furniture and lots of kitchen appliances but the bedrooms aren't ready yet and the game room isn't set up. 

Together, the four of them go IKEA shopping and have their bedroom sets delivered to their new address. 

Eddie and Flash agree to grays and blacks in their room, and the get a California King sized bed, just in case they need the room. There's certainly enough space for it. Their black comforter and black pillow cases match the bedframe and the accent wall they've painted, and the light grays of the sheets match the other walls. They don't really have any art or photos to put up, but they find a few interesting wall sculptures that match the room's grays and hang them on the black wall.

Trevor picks out a light forest green paint for his walls and a faded sky blue for his ceiling. His bedding and furniture is covered in blues and greens and he finds a painting at IKEA that he likes. It's a print of _Starry Night_ but with lighter colors. He also gets a wall sculpture that looks like a metal Celtic knot and curtains that match his bedspread. He gets a large, wall-hanging flat screen with surround sound in his room and hooks up his laptop to it so he can play the Elder Scrolls games in bed. Theoretically, he could do anything with his computer in bed, but he mostly uses it for games since he uses social media on his phone and doesn't have school yet. They're working on getting him into homeschooling, but that requires a legal guardian. That's something else they're working on. Eddie's signed up for the classes but doesn't want him to be taken by social services, so they're waiting for Eddie to be legally ready to be his guardian before they put him on the social services’ radar. Still though, Eddie bought a bunch of study guides and textbooks that Trevor now has on his new bookshelf.

Axel really enjoyed being in the military. In fact he loved it. He would never have quit if he hadn't been in Project Rebirth 2.0. He decides to do his room in gunmetal grays and Army greens. His furniture is metal with a matte finish and his walls are painted medium-light Army green. He picks out a couple of lockers for wardrobes and his new bed is very similar to his old Army bunk. He's picked out a gray metal desk and Eddie bought him a new laptop to go with it. It's Alienware, but unlike Trevor's it's not optimized for gaming. It's still a powerful computer, though. 

Their second night in the new place is a marked occasion. They each prepare a part of their celebratory meal and they eat in their freshly furnished dining room. Flash makes grilled mixed vegetable shish kabobs, Axel makes chicken fettuccine alfredo, Eddie makes tater tots and a chocolate dessert (dark chocolate cherry cheesecake) and Trevor makes chocolate whey protein milkshakes and lemon ginger green tea. 

They eat with delight, talking about everything that's happened in the past few days, and they settle down in the game room to watch Trevor and Axel play video games.

  


  



	17. Trading

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Venom misses Eddie.

It's the third night in their new home and Venom is restless.

 ** _Want to be with Eddie!_** he tells Flash, over and over. Flash doesn't know what to do. It's not like he hasn't wanted to offer to give Venom back, but he didn't want Venom to feel unwanted.

Now it's Flash that feels unwanted. 

He doesn't mind much, but when Venom had told him that he's a _perfect_ match, he somehow thought that meant Venom favors him. He knows it's not that simple. Relationships with multiple partners never are. Relationships in general never are. Maybe he's overthinking it to avoid saying what he knows he has to say.

“Venom wants you back, Eddie.”

They're laying in bed next to each other. Eddie looks at him with pain in his eyes. “I want him back, too.” There it is. Exactly what Flash was afraid of. His Symbiote is going to leave him.

He doesn't realize he's crying until he is. Eddie holds him close, making shushing noises to calm him down. Then he feels it. He knows what Venom wants to do and he can't help but smile. After all, it wouldn't be forever. Just for a while. Every now and then. Maybe every night if they get a chance. Venom's loved his chance to be showered with Eddie's affections from outside his body. And he's not willing to give it up entirely.

Flash kisses Eddie. It's hard, it's fast and it's deep. Flash feels venom forming over his lips and then, forming over the rest of his body. He kisses Eddie even deeper and Eddie moans into his mouth, Anti-Venom beginning to ripple under his skin. Venom's black mass moves, flowing over to Eddie as Anti-Venom seeps into Flash. Flash's body is covered in Symbiote for a moment before the Symbiote recedes into tight fitting pajama pants over his boxers. 

Eddie looks like he used to with Venom, gigantic muscles, light colored veins, huge, sharp teeth and white opalescent eyes. The only difference between now and before is the white spider symbol across his chest. It's legs are parallel to each other, pointed down with knees that point up. Eddie pulls Flash close and licks his face with affection. Tears come from the opalescent eyes and Flash can only imagine the reunion they're having. He'd feel unwanted if they weren't both holding him closely and licking his face with that long, thick, prehensile tongue. Anti-Venom seems subdued in his mind, simply enjoying the feeling of warmth among the three people he loves most. He may not say much, but he says enough when he dissolves Flash's boxers and seeps back into his pores, leaving him naked. Flash starts to protest, so Anti-Venom forms black and white tight boxer-briefs and snakes a tendril around Venom's leg like a one-armed hug. 

Venom is practically screaming in delight at having Eddie back. Though they've been able to commune through tactile telepathy, it's not the same as being bonded with Eddie. Just the feeling alone is enough to make both of them cry. Venom is happy with Anti-Venom's changes to Eddie's body, proud and content that his brother took on responsibility for Eddie in his absence. Curling over Eddie's muscles is a very different feel now that they're so much bigger and….

**_Eddie!! Your tumors are gone!!_ **

_Anti-Venom cleared that up for us._

**_We're so happy!!_ **

_Me, too, love. I missed this so much! Even when we're apart, you're still a part of me. Never forget that, V. You complete me._

**_You complete us too, Eddie._ **

Flash's hands run over Venom's chest and stomach and he's breathing in staggered breaths. Without warning he pushes a kiss onto Venom's chest, and the tendril around Venom's leg squeezes. 

Venom holds Flash tighter and the tendril around his leg squeezes more.

 _We're all here, V. All four of us. We're a family. And I love you all so much!_  
.  
**_We know, Eddie. We'll never be separated again._**

 

But morning comes and Venom has traded places with Anti-Venom again. Unlike with Eddie, only Venom has memories of Flash. Anti-Venom only remembers Eddie, and Venom, ever the selfless martyr, gave up being with Eddie so he and Anti-Venom could both be with someone they can't live without.

Eddie cries.

  


  



	18. Next Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Axel looks for a job.

Axel doesn't know where to start looking. He's not going to get a job serving food or being stuck in an office. Maybe a security job would be best. He definitely doesn't want to become a policeman. He has nothing against them, but he doesn't want that kind of job. He definitely wants something with less paperwork and public scrutiny. The last thing he needs is to be outed because he didn't think before shielding a bystander from bullets. In that hypothetical situation, he'd be happy to rescue someone but less than thrilled about having S.H.I.E.L.D. up his ass again. He registered as a civilian and if he uses superhuman powers as part of a police force, that goes out the window, along with his protection from S.H.I.E.L.D. Security guard would definitely be better. Then, at least he'd be working for a private entity and be able to maintain his civilian status even if he uses his powers on the job. 

He applies at several banks, none of whom are hiring for that position, and he tries at one of the college campuses, but they have real police who work there, so there's not really an opening for him. He tries to think of where he could work for a private entity that wouldn't mind him being superhuman and would have a decent income. 

It isn't until later that night, while rubbing off in the shower thinking of Greg's pert buttocks that it hits him.

“Of course!” he yells, all of a sudden. 

Trevor comes pounding into the bathroom and asks, “Are you okay?!”

“Damn it, kid, fucking knock first!”

“Okay. Sorry Phage!” and the door closes behind Trevor when he leaves. 

Well, Axel definitely can't go back to what he was doing after that.

It almost bothers him to be called by another name, but his Symbiote glows in the light of being recognized and ‘Phage’ is actually a pretty badass name. He never liked his first name much and everyone who knew him in the military always called him 'Axel’. He guesses if anyone's going to call him 'Phage’, it should be someone like Trevor. He'll have to remember to start calling him 'Lasher’ when they aren't in public. They're both good codenames. 

What was he thinking about? Oh right, Greg's ass – no wait, there was something else… The LIFE Foundation! He could apply to work security there. He's got unique qualifications, and if anyone should be interested in a Symbiotic security guard, it should be them.

The family goes to visit Carnage and Agony the next day and while they're there, Axel starts asking questions about getting a job there. He heads over to the HR department and talks to the head of security afterward. They tell him they'll call him back for an interview after a background check. He runs into Greg again, and again, he tries to get his digits. It's a no-go, but Greg gives him a smile this time with genuine joy and slight embarrassment. _Oh, yeah!_ he thinks. _That's going in the spank bank!_ As he walks away, Axel says, “I'm not giving up!”

  


  


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The call comes sooner than expected and Axel is hired immediately. He goes in to the LIFE Foundation and gets his orientation. It's his job to make sure no unauthorized personnel get through the vault doors. The hardest part of the job it seems, will be checking security badges and making sure he knows who all is allowed in. Not that many people go through the doors in the first place. Maybe thirty people altogether aside from his family. _When did he start thinking of them as his family?_

He meets with his supervisor, a man named Patrick Mulligan, and gets his new uniform from HR on the way out.

It isn't until his fifth day of work that he gets Greg alone in the hall. “So what are you doing after work today? Any chance I can take you out?”

“Sorry, Axel. I've got a date tonight. Maybe another time.” Greg gives him a pat on the shoulder and walks away. _DAMN IT!_ he thinks but Phage isn't deterred. 

He feels Axel's lust as his own and says nothing but **_Patience_**. Axel doesn't know if Phage is wise or just hopeful. Either way, he's using his enhanced sight to eye Greg's butt as he walks away. 

Axel figures, there's more fish in the sea. He's starting to get a crush on Patrick, the man he spends the most time at work with, but he's his _supervisor_. He could lose his job if he plays his cards wrong, but after being in the military so long and not being able to taste the forbidden fruit, he just can't help himself.

They're getting lunch together at work every day, so it's not like he's not getting to know the guy first. He takes the plunge.

“So what are you doing after work today? Want to hang out for a while?”

“Actually, I've got a date tonight.” 

“Yeah, you and everyone else. What about tomorrow. Do you go to bars or anything?”

“Sometimes. I'll let you know when I'm available.”

And that's that.

 _Next time, Gadget!_ Axel thinks. Phage doesn't get the reference, but the mental voice Axel uses when he says it gets Phage to ripple under his skin in amusement.

  


  


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‘Next time’ comes the next day at the end of Patrick's shift and the beginning of Axel's.

“So how was your date?” Axel asks Patrick.

“It was good. I really had a good time. Greg and I went to this new sushi place downtown.” Axel's heart drops.

“You and Greg, huh? Didn't see that coming.”

“Yeah, he's really taken a liking to you. How about you come out with us next time. I'm sure you'll have Greg smiling.”

“You think so, huh? I figured you'd be the one making him smile.”

“More than one person can make him smile, Axelson. Come over to my place after work and we'll go play pool or something.”

“But not like on a date, right?”

“Do you want it to be?”

“Aren't you my supervisor?”

“That didn't stop you yesterday. I tell you what, I won't tell HR if you don't. I bet Greg will love you hanging out with us. It's not often we both get asked out by the same guy.”

“So how long have you two… you know?

“Two years. We still don't live together, but after my wife left me, he's been the only one to really care about me like that. We sometimes date around or find someone we both like. It's just a casual date, Axelson. We're not asking you to marry us.”

“Yeah, no… I mean that's great! I was looking for casual.”

“Great, see you at my place. I'll text you directions.”

  


  


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It's a great date. They play pool, go out to dinner afterwards and even catch a movie. They make out at Greg's place until Axel's not sure which of them has his hand down Axel's pants. Axel has a fabulous time. He'll never look at Greg the same way again after that insanely good blowjob as Greg went back and forth between him and Patrick. _Definitely_ a good night. If he could've changed one thing it would be the twenty questions when he got home. 

Lasher went berserk with questions when he found out it was a date. Even more so when he found out Axel is into dudes. And _even more_ when he found out the date was with _two_ guys. Not only was he nosy, he was _accurate_. Axel wouldn't even give anything away and Trevor would guess right almost immediately. Somehow he even guessed about that thing Greg can do with his tongue. Finally, Axel had enough.

“Lasher, will you just shut the fuck up and mind your own business?! It's my private life and you're a minor. I am not swapping sex stories with you.”

“Even if I can do that tongue thing?”

“Even if you can… eww! Lasher, your my brother! And a minor! We are not talking about this.”

“Fine! Be a sour puss. It'll make you that much easier to beat when we play Halo in about ten minutes.”

“What are you, a fortune teller? ...Cuz if you were, you'd know I'm gonna beat your ass all over the Halo.”

Trevor smiles with glee, having finally got what he was trying for. “Last one down's a rotten egg!” 

Axel can't help but laugh to himself. Why the fuck… was Trevor doing all this just to psyche him out? He wouldn't put it past him. 

Axel turns out to be a rotten egg, but he also beats Trevor all over the Halo.

  


  



	19. One Month

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie and Flash have their One Month Anniversary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning for gay sex. I did my best to make it tasteful and non-explicit, but if homosexuality bothers you, skip this chapter or at least, the last paragraph.

It's been one month. One month since Eddie and Flash met. One month since Anti-Venom purged Venom of the poisons in his system. One month since they kissed and Flash told Project Rebirth to go suck a big one. And one month since Eddie and Flash became inextricable parts of each other's lives. 

To celebrate, they're having wine and dinner at the same fancy restaurant where Eddie was kicked out of the lobster tank. In a way, it's a commemoration of his time with Venom, too. They talk about the boys and whether they think things will last with Alex's new beaux. They talk about Lasher and Flash congratulates Eddie for finishing his classes, bringing him one step closer to becoming Trevor's legal guardian. They talk about Project Rebirth and Eddie tells Flash how proud of him he is for standing up for himself and Venom. They talk about the future and where their lives might bring them next. Flash figures that with the money he's making now he can buy his own car soon and lessen the demand on Eddie's truck. They both have motorcycles but if Flash wants to take Phage or Lasher somewhere or go on a full grocery run while Eddie's away with his truck, it'd be nice to have his own vehicle that can carry more than his bike can. 

But all of that is just talk. What they're both nervous about – what the Symbiotes keep prodding them to talk about openly – is their interest in taking things to the next level: making love. They feel like they rushed it a bit and Eddie is proud of his own restraint in this matter, but neither are willing to make the first move, both afraid to take things too fast and get rejected. Their Symbiotes argue with them. They say it's about damn time. They say that they don't understand why they're each waiting for something they've both wanted since they met. They're also impatient because with Flash and Eddie’s repression comes their own. Anti-Venom is about ready to bone the hell out of Venom, and Venom's anxious to let him. They don't have a sex drive without a host, but in a way they were made for each other – they even share an identity to some extent. And they both want to go feral on each other and mate like rabbits. 

Flash drinks extra wine. He usually doesn't drink at all because of his father, but he's trying to work up the courage to ask Eddie for more. He needn't be afraid of rejection, but he doesn't know that. Finally, he says, a little too loudly, “Do you want to fuck me?” The nearby waiter looks at him bug-eyed and some of the tables around then have stopped talking.

Eddie laughs into his drink, glad that Flash didn't say that three seconds later and cause Eddie to spit wine across the table. “Yes, Flash. Yes I do,” he says seriously. “ _Both_ of you.”

That response earns them a few more stares.

Flash giggles a little. “You want to get outta here, then? I've got a swinging pad!” Flash giggles a little more and Eddie laughs.

“Put down your glass, Thompson. If you drink any more, the offer's off the table. I'm not going to be responsible for date raping you.”

“It wouldn't be rape. I love you and I want you to fuck me.”

“You love me?” Eddie says with a smile. 

Flash gets serious for a moment. “Yeah, Eddie. I do love you.”

“I love you, too, Flash,” Eddie says sweetly. “Why don't we get the check and I'll drive us home.” 

“Fine, but I'm paying.”

“I can't let you do that.”

“Yeah, Eddie, you can. You pay for everything. Let me get this.”

“Alright. If you want it that bad.” 

“I want more than that, but you already know that.” Flash says slyly at first, then a little embarrassed. 

They ride home on Eddie's motorcycle and Flash actually screams, “Wah-hooo!” while they ride. Eddie's having doubts about the dub con thing they've got going on, but it seems really important to Flash and Anti-Venom is completely convinced Flash was only drinking to work up the courage to ask – that the decision to consent was made before he drank. Eddie still feels like a creep for wanting it though. In fairness, Flash is sober enough to ride a motorcycle like a pro and talk seriously about their family, so it's not like he's _drunk_ drunk – just a little buzzed. When they get home, Eddie asks Venom to filter out some of the alcohol from Flash's system.

That night, Eddie is as gentle as he is passionate. Their Symbiotes practically merge and set their senses on fire as they wrap into each other. Eddie does things with Anti-Venom's tongue that make Flash squirm and moan and cry out, but he begs Eddie not to stop. When Eddie's sure that they're ready, four become one and at the end of the night, curled around Flash while still inside him, Eddie falls asleep with Flash, and they both sleep better than they ever have before.

  


  



	20. One Without the Other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Axel gets alone time with Greg and Patrick. Unfortunately, it's not at the same time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another trigger Warning for gay sex. Again, I've tried to be nondescript and keep it as a general concept without explicit details, but just in case you want to skip this chapter, the important part is that the three way relationship among Axel, Greg and Patrick progresses and Axel expands his sexuality.

Axel is nervous. He's invited Greg and Patrick over for dinner with his family (and maybe a little hanky panky in the guest room if Eddie and Flash can keep Trevor occupied on the ground floor). It's not a big deal, and they already know their family secret, but Axel is nervous anyway.

He gets a call from Patrick. His ex-wife called him and asked him to babysit their three-year-old son and Patrick couldn't say 'no’. He always wants to spend more time with his son than he gets, so it's something he's eager to do. That's okay. Greg's still coming over and it'll be fun. At least, Axel hopes so. He's not too sure what will happen. He's mostly concerned Lasher will open his big mouth and humiliate him for Greg, but Lasher promised to be on his best behavior. 

Greg shows up with flowers. A bouquet of orchids and roses for Axel. It's a nice gesture and Axel treasures it solely because it's from Greg.

They have Japanese style stir fry for dinner and chocolate tort for desert. Throughout dinner, Greg only has eyes for Axel and barely says anything after the initial conversations. Greg talked a little about his family and his job, but not much. 

When dinner is over, Eddie and Flash engage Trevor in playing games in the game room and Greg and Axel go up to Axel's room. They talk about the military. Greg was in the Air Force and Axel was in the Army. Unlike Axel, Greg couldn't wait to get out of the service. He'd had a lot of issues with being gay and he couldn't wait to get away from the indentured bigotry. Axel didn't have that problem as much. Being bisexual, he just suppressed his homosexual tendencies and focused on women. He even had a couple of girlfriends in the military, but when he signed on with the Special Forces, there wasn't time for a relationship. 

Greg does that thing with his tongue again, and Axel can't help but howl with delight as his new beau brings him to a glorious climax. He's sure that his family heard it, but he really doesn't care at this point. It was worth it.

The night is over too quickly and Greg makes out with him when they kiss goodnight. Axel revels in the memory of it as he goes to sleep.

  


  


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Patrick is available the next time, but Greg isn't. He has the early shift and needs to go to bed early. Axel had said he could go to bed early at his place, but Greg declined. Patrick is enthusiastic about meeting Axel's family. They've seen each other before but never really visited. He's much more animated at dinner than Greg was, talking about everything from the weather to his son to various funny anecdotes about the trials and tribulations of college. He's 24 now and had his son just before he graduated with a bachelor's in chemistry. He says he never expected to be a security guard, but he loves his job and it pays well enough. 

During their time alone in the guest room on the third floor, Patrick firmly says he doesn't bottom. Axel says, “Then I guess we're at an impasse. I don't either,” but by the time Patrick gets Axel warmed up, Axel changes his time and has his first time getting plowed by the magnificence of Patrick's technique. Axel never knew what this side of things is like. He makes a mental note to try that again.

They do it three times before it gets late, and Axel tells Patrick he can't wait for Greg to join them and the three of them to be together like this. 

All Patrick says is, “Good.”

  


  



	21. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carnage isn't happy.

It's a work day like any other. The Symbiotics Department runs smoothly and Patrick stays on Alert for any trespassers or people without proper clearance. Today, he's on the inside of the vault doors while Axel guards the outside. Scientists come and go as usual and Patrick's vigilance is not really needed. Regardless, it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

Then, all hell breaks loose. 

Carnage is being transferred to a new habitat when she viciously claws and bites the scientists transporting her and escapes down the hall. She doesn't get far when Patrick's sonic firearm is used to temporarily debilitate her. It doesn't work, but it pushes her from the rabbit and she moves faster on her own than anyone expects. Axel has made it through the vault doors, each one closing behind him before the next one opens, when he sees his sister disappearing into Patrick, soaking through his clothes and skin. 

Patrick starts to seize up and Axel catches the man before he can fall to the ground. He holds his beau, cradling him in his arms while trying not to restrain him too much. Axel knows that bones can break if someone having a seizure is completely immobilized. He reaches with his mind to his sister's consciousness, begging her to stop, to go back to the rabbit and leave Patrick alone. She doesn't, but the siezure stops and Patrick looks at him with terror in his tired eyes. 

Axel can't physically pull Carnage from her new host, so he does the next best thing and points his sonic firearm to Patrick's chest. It's harmless to humans, so Patrick will be okay, but he doesn't know if at this range Carnage will be. 

He starts to pull the trigger, but stops when Carnage erupts from Patrick's chest and travels at top speed towards one of the ventilation grates in the ceiling. It's a closed system, but Carnage is cunning, and if she's anything like Phage, she can form blades to cut through any barriers. Afraid to use sonics to harm his sister, Axel is encased in Phage's form and he shoots webbing at Carnage, pulling her towards him so that he can contain her. He has to keep adding more webbing as she seeps through it, but eventually, she is completely covered in a sac of webs which Phage melts into a solid ball. He quickly carries her to her new enclosure, grabbing the frightened rabbit from the ground and releasing Carnage and the rabbit into the airlock of the habitat before closing it quickly and turning to the victims of Carnage's escape. 

There are five scientists bleeding profusely on the ground, deep lacerations and bites in each of them. Phage uses his webbing to stop the bleeding, soaking up blood while keeping it from gushing. The paramedics arrive shortly afterward and rush the wounded to the medical center of the LIFE Foundation. Phage goes back to Patrick, still on the ground where Phage left him, but sitting up. A paramedic is asking him if he can stand, but Axel isn't having it. Phage disappears beneath Axel's human form and he carries Patrick to the medical center himself.

  


  



	22. Zoo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Axel gets some bad news while Trevor gets some good news.

Axel is morose. After nearly losing Patrick to his sister's escape attempt, he was very concerned. After getting news from Patrick he becomes angry and depressed. 

Patrick's wife wants him back. She heard about his encounter and injuries. The doctors at the LIFE Foundation said he was lucky. Carnage could've killed him. So his ex-wife Gina wants him back. Nearly losing him altogether convinced her she couldn't live without him.

Patrick dumped Greg, and he dumped Axel, telling them to take care of each other. Axel couldn't believe Patrick would just drop them like a sack of rocks, but he did. Greg is inconsolable. Axel tried, but Greg just wants to be alone to figure things out. He says he's not dumping Axel, he just needs some breathing room to cope with this loss. Axel understands. He doesn't know how to handle it himself, and he wasn't with Patrick for two years like Greg was. 

But Axel puts all of that aside to celebrate the good news of his family. Eddie has officially been named Trevor's legal guardian. Eddie takes them all out for ice cream at Marble Slab, and they go to the zoo afterwards. They don't know Axel got dumped, but they know something's wrong. Nevertheless, Axel engages with frivolity with his brother, joking and playing with him as they go from exhibit to exhibit and explain things to their Symbiotes.

 ** _Why are there animals in cages? Are they part of experiments, too?_** Phage asks in his mind. 

“No Phage, they're part of conservation efforts. Sometimes their habitats in the wild are endangered and we have them in zoos to help some of them survive. Some animals are even extinct in the wild, but we keep as many alive in captivity as we can. They get dental and medical care and there are breeding programs to help ensure genetic diversity and reproduction in species.”

Phage doesn't understand. He thinks humans should put the cages around the entire ecosystems where these animals live. When Axel tries to explain poaching, Phage doesn't understand why some humans deviate from what other humans want. To him, the entire concept of humans not having a hive mind is counterproductive. If humans are always working against each others’ goals, how do they get anything done? 

Axel tries to explain that that's why they have laws and park rangers and police: to help everyone be one the same page and work together. He leaves out that in politics, people work against each other just as much. It's hard enough to explain this stuff to Phage, and to Phage it all comes back to ‘why don't humans have a hive mind’? 

It's a good distraction. Between Phage and Trevor, Axel doesn't have any time to sulk about his loss. He finds that he's begun to think of Eddie and Flash as father figures – which to him is crazy because Flash is his peer. He's only two and a half years older than Axel. And they were in the same unit. There's nothing fatherly about him except when it comes to their Symbiotes. 

But that's what it all comes down to. Venom is Phage's dad and by proxy, Axel is starting to think of Eddie and Flash as fathers. He still has a major boner for Eddie and has always had a special place in his spank bank for Flash. He doesn't know if the fatherly thing makes it hot or just plain weird. Maybe it's a little of both for him. Weird because it's hot and hot because it's weird. Axel's too screwed up to analyze himself right now. 

More than any of that, he's happy that his brother's happy. He can tell Trevor is barely holding back Lasher's excitement and barely holding back from changing into Lasher in public. Forest green ripples under his skin when he sees his favorite animals and Eddie buys him one of those bubble guns from a stand for Trevor to play with. It's just now occurring to Axel that when Trevor's really happy, he's really like a kid. Not just a minor but an actual kid. 

Trevor has fun blowing bubbles in Axel's face whenever Axel starts to look depressed. He's threatened to take the bubble gun away, but Eddie said, “Don't you dare.” Eddie knows more about Trevor than anyone and he's always protective of Trevor's happiness. 

When they get home, they're all tired but not sleepy. They play video games for a while and Eddie orders Chinese take out. Trevor says he wants to go seal hunting but when asked, he admits he doesn't really need to. He's just excited and finds it fun. Eddie explains to him that “fun” isn't worth taking a life over, even if it's an animal. It's a lesson they all know too well, but Lasher is too riled up from the zoo. 

“What if we don't kill any and we just go swimming with them?”

“Trev, I don't think that's a great idea right now. It's about sunset, and sharks are out this time of day,” Eddie says. 

Trevor is eventually convinced that Halo with two Special Forces operatives is better than swimming with seals.

  


  



	23. Going For It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Axel's relationship is over, but a new one begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know in the comments what you think of this. I can easily change it, and I'm not sure how I'm going to arrange things in the long run. I feel like Axel is the polyamorous type though and that's not gonna change.

Patrick gets home from school. He's going to the police academy to become a cop and Gina couldn't be more proud. He's been feeling off lately, but he's gotten used to it. He had a fever for a couple of days after the incident when Carnage tried to escape, but it passed, and he feels much better now. 

So much better.

His favorite thing about being home again is spending time with his wife and son. His second favorite thing is feeling a sense of belonging. His third favorite thing is what he and his wife do between the sheets. 

They're doing that thing now and she calls out how much she loves him and how much she missed him. He returns the sentiment as they voraciously approach climax. 

Then, just as they do, symbiotic fluid comes out through Patrick's pores and covers his skin. He now has large pupilless opalescent eyes, giant claws and red-orange and dark blue skin. He climaxes and his wife screams.

  


  


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Greg is elated. Patrick came crawling back to him and he would be in a told-you-so mood if Patrick didn't carry a sullen and traumatized expression. Patrick says he screwed things up royally with his wife. She says she'll never take him back, and she's moving out of state. Greg feels bad for him, but he's just so happy that Patrick came back. 

Axel doesn't share that same joy. In fact, he is pissed. _Who the hell does Patrick think he is?!_ The man did more than break Greg's heart and wound Axel's – he broke them. Greg had even said he was going to ask Patrick to marry him before Patrick left them high and dry. So why does Greg feel like it's okay for Patrick to stomp on his heart and abandon them? 

Axel's not having it. He says he isn't signing up for Patrick to do that to them again. He tells Greg that if he is, then it's over. As much as he cares for Greg, he isn't going to be with Patrick and he isn't going to be there when Greg is crushed again. It's all Patrick's fault and Axel isn't going to forgive him – not for running out on them, not for stealing Greg away and not for blaming the entire mess on his sister.

Axel doesn't know what happened between Patrick and his wife, but to blame it on a Symbiote that has nothing to do with them is ridiculous. Gina would never have taken Patrick back in the first place if it wasn't for Carnage – but Axel isn't blaming Carnage. Patrick's the one who made the decision to leave them and Axel knows better than to blame these circumstances for an individual's decision. No one twisted Patrick's arm to make him go back to his ex-wife. 

Axel still can't stop crying. He usually bottles this sort of thing up never again to see the light of day, but Greg was so important to him. Why did Patrick have to ruin everything?

  


  


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Two days later, Axel does stop crying. He decides that it's time to move on and do something he's always wanted to do. 

He kisses Flash. 

At first, Flash is shocked, but puts up with it until Axel moves away.

“What was that for? Did I have something on my face?”

“No. I've wanted to do that since we were stationed together. I've always thought you were hot and I care about you too. I want to ask you and Eddie out. Will you ask him for me?”

Eddie clears his throat. He's been standing behind Axel the entire time. “I heard, and I'm not enthused that you kissed my boyfriend without asking him first.” Eddie sighs. “I know you've been having a hard time lately and I know Flash would've decked you or at least stopped the kiss if he wanted to, so I'm not mad. But be a little more considerate.” Eddie starts to walk away, but Flash calls his name.

“Eddie. What do you think? Do you want to go out with our son?”

“Don't phrase it like that. Phage may be our son but Axel isn't. It's different with Trevor because I would've adopted him either way. You're making it weird.”

“Do you?” Axel asks nervously.

“I tell you what. Come over here and ask me yourself.” 

Axel walks over to Eddie, standing in his personal space. “Will you, Eddie, and your boyfriend Flash go on a date with me and if it goes well, date me?”

Eddie's answer is lightning quick. His arms are around Axel and his tongue in his mouth, kissing him like his life depends on it. Axel practically melts in his arms and feels like his legs are made of jelly by the time Eddie releases him almost a full minute later.

“That answer your question?”

  


  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I noticed I stopped getting comments when I made a relationship out of Venom/Anti-Venom/Phage and Venom/Anti-Venom/Carnage. If that seriously bothers you guys with how these chapters went, you are welcome to tell me what you would have liked to see. I can still change it now, but soon I'll be starting the second work in the series and I would love some input as to whether to change these relationships.


	24. Match

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flash hears a name he hasn't heard in a while.

The sex is great. Axel can't get enough of Eddie and Flash. Whether they're all together or just two of them, Axel's never had such mind-blowing bliss in all of his life. It helps that they all know each other so well. It helps that when their Symbiotes connect they can feel each others’ feelings and know exactly what the others want. Most of all, it helps that they care about each other.

Phage loves it, too. The closeness with his family is second to Axel's insatiable sex drive, but the Symbiote truly loves connecting with his family like this. They share experiences and neurochemicals they would never have otherwise – and truth be told, Phage is fond of Eddie and Flash, too.

Trevor knows what's up. He doesn't confront them about it, but they've been going at it for days and the noises Eddie elicits from his lovers are nothing short of deafening to Lasher's enhanced senses. Still though, Trevor can tell they try to be quiet – they just suck at it.

It's after a particularly loud morning that Trevor turns the volume on his TV all the way up and blares Skyrim at full volume. Their voracious love making is interrupted by the roars and shouts of the Dovah and miscellaneous war cries from Trevor's allies and the deafening operatic music that signals a fight. It's hard on Trevor's hearing, but soon, the three love birds come down the stairs and Trevor turns his game back to normal volume. 

Flash makes French toast that morning and as they're eating, Eddie gets a call to come down to the LIFE Foundation. They had planned on seeing Agony and Carnage that afternoon anyway, so it was just a movement of their plans. 

When they get there they're shown to the conference room in the Symbiotics Department and they take their seats as Mister Gabriel and Greg enter. Greg gives a pleading look to Axel, but Axel looks away, ignoring Greg and his silent request to come back to him. Eddie clears his throat and Mister Gabriel begins. 

“We've asked you here because we think we found a match for the Carnage Symbiote. A Mister Ben Reilly signed up with our program back when Drake was in charge. They didn't discover that Mister Reilly was a match because they didn't know what to look for at the time, and Mister Reilly was smart enough not to sign any contracts. Through a national DNA database, we found that Mister Reilly's real name is Peter Parker–”

“Pete?! You're kidding!!” Flash interrupts.

“You know Peter Parker, Mister Thompson?”

“Yeah we went to school together. Kindergarten through the first year of college. He's a great guy. If he's a match, then I can give him a call and–”

“Hold your horses, Mister Thompson. We've contacted Parker and he says he's not interested in our program and wants nothing to do with us. If you contact him it has to be as a friend on behalf of your Symbiote's offspring and not as anyone affiliated with this company in any way. He's already asked us to destroy the DNA samples we have of him, and we have complied. If you really think Mister Parker will change his mind, by all means, contact him, although I doubt he will be willing to listen.”

“Okay, then. I'll do that.”

The visit with the girls goes well and Agony has really taken a liking to Phage, even telling him so explicitly through the mental link they share when the Symbiotes touch. Carnage has calmed down a lot, and though she had completely alien hormones flooded in her system around the time of her escape attempt, her biochemistry has returned to normal. Flash is definitely feeling Venom's paternal instincts and his heart swells with emotion when he holds his Symbiote's offspring, just as Eddie's does. Flash promises Carnage they'll try to find him a good host soon and even tells her a funny anecdote about Peter from college. 

Before long they head home, and Axel drags Eddie to his bedroom, saying something about handcuffs and lockers while Flash fiddles with his phone. He dials Peter's number, and Peter answers on the fifth ring. 

“Flash?”

“Hey Pete, what's new?”

“Not too much. I'm thinking about starting my own tech company soon, but for now I'm still taking pictures for The Bugle. How about you, anything interesting?”

“You could say that. You know how I couldn't talk about my life for almost two years?” Flash tells Peter all about Project Rebirth, admitting that he's Agent Venom and telling Peter about his Symbiote's children. Peter is floored. 

“So I was wondering,” Flash continues, “If you would be interested in helping out with one of the Symbiotes. She needs a human host, and a little birdie told me you might be a match.”

Peter lets out a long sigh. “I had no idea you were involved Flash. I probably wouldn't have been so rude if I'd known they were helping you out. My answer is still 'no’, but I'd like to help without being a host. Maybe if you need a babysitter or something.”

“I'm on the West Coast, Pete. I moved to San Francisco. I live with my boyfriend and two other Symbiotes. I guess I left all that out before…”

“Yeah, you did, Flash. I'm happy for you, I just didn't know you moved.”

“Well it's okay, Pete. I'm glad you're not mad at me for bringing all this up. I didn't want to lose you as a friend.”

“Of course, Flash. I got your back, man. Wait...”

“What?” Flash says curiously.

“I think I just thought of someone who might help. If I'm a match for that Symbiote, then he's a match.”

“Are you sure? What, do you have an identical twin or a clone I don't know about?”

“Actually, two. Don't ask.”

  


  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I noticed I stopped getting comments when I made a relationship out of Venom/Anti-Venom/Phage and Venom/Anti-Venom/Carnage. If that seriously bothers you guys with how these chapters went, you are welcome to tell me what you would have liked to see. I can still change it now, but soon I'll be starting the second work in the series and I would love some input as to whether to change these relationships.


	25. Kaine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter talks Kaine into something he never thought he'd do.

“Why are you telling me this again?” Kaine was walking down the streets of New York next to his brother – his genetic template, really – and as with many conversations with his brother, he just doesn't know why the hell he thinks he gives a damn.

“Because it would really help out a friend of mine and, like, _super_ -boost your powers.”

"My powers are fine, Pete. Unlike you, I can melt people's faces off, I produce my own webbing and I have actual built-in weapons. Maybe you're the one who needs to boost his powers.”

“Yeah, but it would make you stronger and faster too! Oh! And you'd be immune to my spider-sense. You could sneak up on me, and I'd never even know it!”

“I can do that already. You've got the reflexes of a cow.”

“i do _not!!_ ” says Peter, stopping in his tracks.

Kaine turns back to look at him. “Peter, why is this so important to you?”

“It's about my friend's...sort of... daughter. The Symbiote I'm talking about is the daughter of my friend's Symbiote. You remember Agent Venom, right?”

“ _That_ punk loser? Don't tell me that's your friend.”

“You're just mad he kicked your ass all over Manhattan.” Peter says, frankly.

“He did not ‘kick my ass’.”

“He _so_ kicked your ass. Like, royally. In fact, I think his boot print is permanently lodged on your left cheek.”

“How dare you? My ass is perfect.” 

“So what I hear you saying is that you think _my_ ass is perfect.”

“How is that even remotely what I said?”

“We're identical.”

“Not entirely. I work out by pulling train cars. You work out by sitting on your ass in front of your computer. Besides, I'm a bad-ass.”

“Hey, I'm bad-ass, too”

“No, you are bad-ass adjacent, at best.”

“Did I mention there two-point-eight million dollars in it for you if you take on the Symbiote?”

“No you didn't.”

“Well, there is!”

“Arrgh! Damn it, Pete!”

  


  


**  
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The walk from the airport to the LIFE Foundation was pretty far, but it was sunny. Kaine had become so used to New England weather that he'd forgotten what California was like. He bought four water bottles at a gas station for the walk and had emptied them by the time he got there.

When he walks in the doors, he is greeted by the security guards – man there was a _lot_ of them. He walks up to the receptionist and introduces himself. “Hi, I'm Kaine Parker, I'm here to meet with David Gabriel, Eugene Thompson and Eddie Brock.”

The receptionist smiles and introduces herself as Ms. Lightwater. She pushes a button on the intercom and says, “Mister Parker is here to see Mister Gabriel.” 

A sweet-looking woman dressed in a nice suit under a doctor's coat comes into the lobby from a side door and shows Kaine through the building, pointing out bathrooms and security stations along the way. The building is as amazing on the inside as it is on the outside. Kaine imagines he'd have a blast web-slinging in here. The ceiling is several stories high and there are convenient walkways crossing the open space and connecting different sides of the main part of the building. He even sees a few spots that would make for great spider's nests, where he could set up hammocks overlooking the great view over the bay out the gargantuan windowed walls.

They get to an area that looks like it's under construction. There are pieces of wall that look like solid rock and some areas that have caution tape across them. They go through a series of large vault doors, each closing behind the before the next one opens, and the woman leads him to a conference room where he comes face to face with Flash Thompson.

“ _You!_ ”

“Hi, Kaine. You have a good flight?” Flash greets.

“ _You're_ the friend Peter was talking about?!” Kaine says incredulously.

“Peter talks about me? That's sweet. You know, for a while there you were almost my brother-in-law.” 

“I'm well aware of how your relationship with my brother went.” Then, turning to the others in the room, “You guys have any lockers I can shove this guy in?”

A black-haired man with vibrant blue eyes stands up from the conference table. “I do, but he really prefers handcuffs.”

“Phage!” a large muscled blond man admonishes.

“Sorry, Pops,” the man replies sheepishly.

Mister Gabriel clears his throat. “Talk like that on duty, Axelson, and I'll have you fired.”

“Yes, sir.” The black-haired man looks embarrassed now, as if he had momentarily forgot so many people were there.

“Introductions,” Flash says. “This is Mister Gabriel, the CEO of The LIFE Foundation. That's Greg The Security Guard. He's Mister Gabriel's personal security guard. That's Eddie Brock, my boyfriend, previous host to the Venom Symbiote and current host to Anti-Venom. That's Axel, host to the Phage Symbiote, and that's Trevor, host to the Lasher Symbiote. And I'm the current Venom, if you haven't already guessed.” 

“That was you in Manhattan, wasn't it? I owe you an ass-kicking, pal.”

“I'll gladly collect on that if you're willing to host my daughter.”

“That's why I'm here. What do I have to sign.”

Mister Gabriel pipes up, “This is Ms. Francesca from our legal team and this is her partner, Mister Rolands. They'll go over the paperwork with you in a moment. Now, why don't we all have a seat and put old animosities aside, at least for the time being.”

They discuss the dangers and benefits of having a Symbiote. They discuss Carnage's tendency to strengthen her hosts and history of violence. At that, Kaine says, “Well, she'll feel right at home with me, then.”

They go over the contract and Kaine thinks he's getting a much better deal than they are, but apparently the chances of finding a matching host are low at best and near-impossible on average, so he guesses they're both getting something out of it. Kaine signs without asking for a lawyer, but he's anxious to get it over with and meet his new Symbiote. 

The process isn't what Kaine expected. Instead of an injection or a surgery, they simply put him in a contained glass room and release the Symbiote into it. It quickly covers the distance between them and crawls up his legs to his torso where it sinks into his belly and chest, not even leaving behind a damp spot though it apparently soaked through his clothes like a liquid. He feels an immediate hunger and a strange curiosity.

**_Spider?_ **

_I'm your new host. Call me Kaine. Welcome home, Carnage._

  


  



	26. Carnage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The guys take Kaine out to eat.

When Carnage is securely bonded to Kaine, they let him out of the glass room and administer some kind of serum to his skin after asking him to for the Symbiote on it. The Symbiote forms as a red and black Spider-Man suit with black shoulders, neck, mask and back and a black spider symbol over his otherwise red chest. The front of his torso, leggings, arms and eyes are vibrant blood red. There's also a red spider symbol on his back, identical to the symbol on his chest. When the serum is administered to his skin, he feels the Symbiote soak up the concoction hungrily. It screams **_MORE_** , and when Kaine conveys the message he gets more. They end up giving him a quadruple dose before the end and each drop feels like a balm on his skin and a pizza in his belly. He hasn't had even an orgasm this good. Like, _ever_.

Though Kaine is still famished he has an urge to be near Eddie. After the doctors run a plethora of scans and blood tests, they give him the go ahead, and he heads out to the lobby where he is intercepted by the other Symbiotes. Flash apologizes for the past but Kaine ignores him and asks the big guy (Eddie?) where they can go to get some grub. Eddie says his Symbiote needs a lot more protein than they have at a restaurant and offers to take him seal hunting so he can get enough meat. They travel in Eddie's truck to the bay, Kaine still enveloped in Carnage's version of a spider suit and they jump into the water. Lasher immediately starts playing around, swimming faster than Kaine can follow with his eyes and Kaine finds he can breathe under water. _That_ sure wasn't in the brochure. (Not that it was a brochure, per say.)

Eddie and Flash quickly lead the school of Symbiotes to an area where the seals are swimming when Kaine deviates from the group to go on his own hunt.

He slashes into a Minke whale, killing it and spilling it's entrails. By the time the others reach him he's eaten its brain, it's heart and half of its mass. Carnage finally doesn't feel hungry anymore. The others make quick work of most of the remaining whale meat, not wanting to waste it, but Lasher complains that the texture is weird. 

Kaine thinks it's satisfying. It's Lasher that's weird.

  


  


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Kaine doesn't have a place to stay in San Francisco, and the LIFE Foundation won't be paying him for a month, so Eddie invites him to stay with them for a while. 

Kaine is surprised by how big their place is. If he had the millions of dollars now, he'd stay at the penthouse of a Four Seasons Hotel, but in all fairness the only big difference is that he's sharing space with four other guys and doesn't have room service. That night, they curl up to watch Phage and Lasher play video games, and Eddie and Flash embrace him warmly. In spite of himself, Kaine relaxes into Venom's and Anti-Venom's arms, feeling his Symbiote's hums of contentment and feeling his own grouchiness at enjoying Flash's company.

  


  



	27. Forgiveness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaine finally forgives Flash.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning for a lot of gay kissing.

Kaine didn't ask for this. In fact, he asked not to be too involved in the family of Symbiotes, but he doesn't always get what he wants, and Flash and Eddie seem convinced he needs a room of his own. 

They're at IKEA. Apparently, they don't think the guest room is good enough for him, so they're asking him to pick out furniture and bedding for the remaining bedroom. Kaine isn't sure what to do. He wants to just pick out everything that catches his eye since these guys are apparently loaded, but something's holding him back. He tries to decide whether to get wooden furniture or metal. Metal won't be destroyed as easily is he throws a tantrum, but if he does, metal would cause more damage to the room itself. He could always just get a tall bedframe like a top bunk without a mattress and make a webbing hammock to sleep in. Would he really prefer a mattress? All these decisions make his head spin.

Finally, Lasher asks if he wants space efficient or luxurious. Kaine decides space efficient with a luxurious mattress. Lasher asks if he wants room for two in the bed. Kaine decides that's probably a good idea. Lasher asks if he wants an elevated bed or one on the ground. Kaine decides elevated. Lasher asks if he has any favorite colors. Kaine says black. With these preferences in mind Lasher helps him find an elevated extra-long queen size bed made of black painted wood with a desk built in under it. They pick out the best memory foam mattress they can find and even find some black metal bar frames that Kaine can put up along the walls that will act as webbing anchors. Kaine picks out a black wooden dresser with fogged glass fronts to the drawers and a nice desk chair. There. They have the basics. No need to get more unless they find necessities that they don't have. Kaine is sick of furniture shopping now. He just wants to go to sleep. He takes a nap in the guest room while Eddie and Flash work on assembling the furniture in Kaine's new bedroom. They keep the furniture away from the walls and paint the walls black with a red accent wall. On that wall they have black wall sculptures and sconces to hang, and they open the windows and turn the ceiling fan on low to help the paint dry. 

Kaine wakes up to the smell of wet paint. When he looks for the source, he finds that his room is almost ready for him to move into. _Damn it!_ He was going to help. Leave it to Flash to ruin everything by being genuinely helpful. Kaine guesses it's not all that bad. He's just grumpy, and he knows it. He heads downstairs to grab a beer and thinks _A minifridge! That's what else I should get._ He makes a mental note of this epiphany and makes his way to the first floor to raid the fridge. He doesn't find any beer, but he finds a bottle of vodka hidden away in the back of one of the cabinets. He walks up to the master bedroom where he can hear some kind of kinky roleplay going on and barges right in.

Axel is naked and tied up with black webbing and Flash and Eddie are standing over him barely covered by symbiotic tissue over their asses. Kaine assumes their fronts aren't covered. Kaine holds up the bottle of vodka and asks, “Is this for a special occasion or can I drink this?”

Axel bursts out laughing as symbiotic skin covers Eddie and Flash. “Yeah dude, that's mine. I'll split it with you though. Save enough for us to do shots together when we're done here.”

“I'm done,” Flash says in a moping tone of voice. It's clear that whatever magic they were creating went out the window when Kaine walked into the room. Kaine doesn't care. At least not about Flash's boner. Let the jerk have blue balls. 

Kaine does feel a little guilty about embarrassing Eddie, though, so maybe he should be more considerate in the future. Axel doesn't seem to care. Kaine thinks to himself that Axel would probably want him to join in. Axel does strike him as the slutty type. That's not fair though. How about 'overtly sexual’. That's a better description. By the time Kaine has sauntered to the first floor, Axel isn't far behind him. 

Eddie comes down with them. With Eddie next to him, Axel does ask if Kaine wants to join them. Kaine laughs for a second, then says, “You're serious? Hell yeah. Just none of that crazy shit. Webbing someone up is fine, but I'm not into roleplay. Maybe harnesses and shit if you want to make a porno, but not if we're doing it for enjoyment.”

Eddie speaks up. “We're not gonna make a porno. Anything with webbing could lead to Kaine's identity being figured out.”

“Yes, Dad,” Axel says sarcastically. It confuses Kaine that Axel sounds sarcastic because isn't Eddie a little like a father to Axel? Kaine hasn't really figured out the dynamics in this household. 

Eddie puts a hand on Kaine's shoulder and Carnage purrs in Kaine's mind. He lays a hand gently over Eddie's before turning to Axel who has retrieved three shot glasses from the cabinets.

“Flash isn't joining?” Kaine says curiously.

“Flash doesn't drink and he usually doesn't want to be around it.”

“Oh right, his dad…” Kaine says, remembering what Peter told him.

“You know about that?” Eddie asks 

“Peter told me. They were best friends after Flash stopped using Pete as a punching bag. Peter's way stronger too. Or he was before Flash became Venom. Pete didn't want to hurt him so he just let it happen. We eventually found out that Flash's acquaintance with violence started at home and that Flash didn't really know any other way to relate to people other than sports and violence. Pete says he was a changed man by the time they graduated high school and that they became best friends. If it wasn't for Gwen, I think Pete would've asked Flash out when they were still in high school. Pete's got a masochistic streak, in my opinion, so it really makes sense.”

“Huh. Flash told me he used to be a bully, but we never talked details,” Eddie says thoughtfully. “Peter's right, though. Flash isn't like that anymore.”

“Glad to hear it. I still don't like him though. I mean, maybe a little, but that's all Carnage.”

Axel laughs. “I bet you want to kiss him, and I can tell you right now that that's not the Symbiote.”

“Okay, so I like the guy _a little_. Doesn't mean I'm gonna kiss him. At least not unless things change between us. I'm still mad about how he used to treat my brother.”

“That makes sense,” Eddie says uncomfortably. “Let's drink!”

“Amen to that, Pops,” Kaine says, relieved for the change of subject. Axel and Eddie stare at him for a bit and Kaine realizes what he just said. “Sorry, I'm starting to think of you like… I dunno….”

“ _That_ probably _is_ the Symbiote,” Axel says casually. “Carnage has always had a soft spot for Eddie. Phage has me calling him Dad half the time, and not as any sort of roleplay. I'm actually starting to think of them like very sexy parental figures.”

“Quit making it weird, Axel,” Eddie says with a groan. 

Axel just pours the shots and the three of them knock the shots back, almost synchronized. Axel starts pouring the next round. 

“So how do you know when it's the Symbiote's thoughts or your own?” Kaine asks.

Eddie takes a breath like he's thinking. “You kinda get a feel for it. Sometimes the Symbiotes will magnify what's already there or pick up on something you don't. Usually though it's like an internal conversation. You share a lot of the same feelings and perspectives just being bonded with them, but like good friends do, you sometimes just end up on the same page. It's actually pretty confusing when you try to analyze it because it's not usually any one thing but like a mix of the above. That make any sense?” They knock back their shots.

“Yeah. It does. Sometimes Carnage thinks of Flash affectionately, and sometimes she thinks of him like a usurper. It's similar to my own mixed feelings about him so I guess we bring out that duality in each other. Like that?”

“That's a good example. But just a second ago, you called me ‘Pops’. That was probably all Carnage – unless you've got an undisclosed urge to call me 'Daddy’,” Eddie says.

“Now look who's making it weird,” Axel says with a laugh as he refills the shot glasses. 

“I'm not calling you ‘Daddy’,” Kaine says sternly. 

“How about ‘Daddio’?” Axel says jokingly. “Da-da? Papi?”

Kaine thinks for a second. “I think that counts as you making it weird again.” If Eddie's uncomfortable expression is anything to go by, Kaine's hit it right on the money. “I think I'll try to keep it limited to ‘Dad’ and ‘Pop' when the urge hits me.”

They knock back their shots and Eddie goes to grab some oranges from the fridge. 

“So the whole webbing thing you two do,” Eddie starts, “Can you teach Anti-Venom to do that? I was always jealous that Flash could do that. When I had Venom we couldn't do that.’

“I can teach you,” Kaine says. “Let's trade Symbiotes real quick. Venom learned it when he came in contact with Spider-Man and I've got better webbing. Mine's all natural. Spider-Man has the genes for it but it doesn't manifest like it does with me, and he uses artificial web shooters with spider silk biocables. Since, from what I've gathered, the Symbiotes have genetic memory, Anti-Venom should be able to pick it up from me as easily as Venom did when he bonded to Spider-Man.”

Suddenly something makes sense to Eddie. _Genetic memory!_ That's why Anti-Venom had Venom's memory of him. 

“That's pretty cool,” Axel says, refilling their shots. 

Eddie thinks for a minute. “How do you want to do this? The Symbiotes come out and we switch or should we trade directly yin-yang style?” 

Kaine answers by holding both of Eddie's hands. “We send our Symbiotes from right hands to left hands. Sound good?”

.”Okay, whenever you're ready,” Eddie says nervously. 

The Symbiotes ripple through their arms and they trade. Carnage seems pleased to be with Eddie and heaves s mental sigh at their bond. Kaine forms as Anti-Venom and Eddie sees for the first time what he looks like in symbiotic form. Kaine waits a few minutes before shooting a few webs across the room and having a mental conversation with Anti-Venom. Finally, Anti-Venom retreats into Kaine's more lean form and Kaine leans over to Eddie, kissing him gently on the lips. Eddie's arms come around him and what starts out as innocent and sweet quickly turns heated and hungry. The Symbiotes switch as they kiss and it reminds Eddie of the time he kissed Anne and Venom came back to him. Fully bonded to their original Symbiotes again, they break the kiss and Axel claps slowly. 

“Hot damn! That was sexy as hell,” Axel says. 

Kaine ignores him. “Try shooting webs now. It should work.”

Eddie shoots a web at Axel, deftly pulling his lover close to him and embracing him fondly. “It works,” Eddie says with a smile. He bends into a kiss with Axel, holding him flush against his body and pulling away gently when he breaks the kiss.

“Ready for another shot?” Kaine asks. 

“Totally!” says Axel. They take another shot and when they're done, Axel says, “My turn!” and kisses Kaine on the lips, pushing his tongue into Kaine's mouth. Kaine accepts it and goes to town, planning on making it a kiss Axel won't forget. They make out for nearly ten minutes while Eddie pours himself another shot.

“Looks like our boys are getting along,” Flash says from behind him. Eddie nods and pulls Flash into his arms. They watch as Kaine pops Axel on the ass, earning him a low-pitched squeak. 

Kaine turns to Eddie and Flash. “I'm sorry for being a dick, Flash. I know you've changed. It's just hard to reconcile that.”

“It's okay, Kaine. I understand, and I probably deserve it.”

“You totally deserve it, but I'm still sorry.”

Kaine steps into Flash's personal space and says, “Now let's see what my brother missed out on.” 

Kaine kisses Flash gently and feels himself truly forgiving Flash and feels his Symbiote hum in contentment as he puts a hand to the side of Flash's face. 

“You taste like vodka,” Flash says plainly. Kaine laughs a little. 

“Sorry. I'll brush my teeth first next time.”

  


  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I noticed I stopped getting comments when I made a relationship out of Venom/Anti-Venom/Phage and Venom/Anti-Venom/Carnage. If that seriously bothers you guys with how these chapters went, you are welcome to tell me what you would have liked to see. I can still change it now, but soon I'll be starting the second work in the series and I would love some input as to whether to change these relationships.


	28. Scarlet Spider

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaine gets a new nickname.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning for mutual masturbation and showering together.
> 
>  
> 
> Additional Trigger Warning for mentions of Trevor's past (underage).

It's Kaine's first patrol in San Francisco. It doesn't have the same urban landscape as New York. There are far fewer buildings to swing from, but with Carnage well fed, he feels like he has endless energy to run across rooftops and jump from building to building. He stops a few muggings, but there doesn't seem to be much going on tonight. No gang activity he can find and no sense of anything truly amiss in the city. Damn. Maybe there'll be more tomorrow night. 

He wakes up the next morning with a hangover. He hadn't meant to hit a bar on the way home, but he had, and it's hitting him back now. When he goes downstairs he sees Flash and Eddie with the TV on in the living room. The news is on and when Flash sees him he hits pause on the DVR.

“Good morning, sleepyhead. Have a restful night?” Flash says, knowing full well how late it was when Kaine got home. Kaine grumbles and walks past them to the kitchen where he drink the rest of the coffee straight from the pot in one draught. He takes two aspirin with a bottle of water and heads to the couch where Eddie and Flash are. The DVR's on rewind and Flash stops it and hits play. A video of Kaine beating the living crap out of a mugger shows up on screen and you can hear the man scream and wimper as Kaine breaks his jaw and a few ribs. The newscaster is saying how the victim of the mugging quickly pulled out her phone and videoed the “bad-guy-beatdown”. They open up to a panel about vigilante justice, the effectiveness of police and ethical responsibilities of having superpowers. They drone on for a few minutes bringing up the tired old arguments that split the Avengers when the Accords first came up. Finally, they bring out the mugging victim and she tells the camera how grateful she is that someone was there to protect her. In the lights of the studio, you can see the bruises her attacked left on her face. When she's done recounting her experience and defending vigilantes she turns to the camera and says, “Thank you Scarlet Spider, whoever you are.”

Kaine groans loudly. _Scarlet Spider?_ The universe is punishing him. 

“What's wrong Kaine?” Flash says, apparently confused at his abject horror.

“That’s my brother's name.”

“I thought your brother is Spider-Man?”

“He is, but my _other_ brother is the Scarlet Spider. Clearly the universe is punishing me.”

“I dunno… Scarlet Spider is both descriptive and kinda bad-ass…” Eddie says thoughtfully. 

“You wouldn't make that argument if you knew how many times I made fun of Ben for that name. It stinks. And now everyone and their dog is going to call me that and the only thing I can do is change my costume and hope they don't name me something worse.”

Carnage lets him know exactly what she thinks of him changing his costume and forms the Scarlet Spider suit over his clothes. “Oh don't you start in on me, too.” 

Axel walks into the room just in time to see Kaine change into his costume and can't help but let out a “Hubba, hubba!”

Kaine turns to him as if to plead his case against his Symbiote, but instead of talking, he grabs Axel into his arms and pulls him in for a kiss. Axel seems surprised but not disconcerted. “Remind me to say 'hubba, hubba’ more often." Kaine ignores him and holds their faces close. 

“Never call me the ‘Scarlet Spider’. At least then someone will be on my side.”

“Okay guys, what did I miss?” Axel asks, thoroughly confused. 

The rewind the interview with the lady Kaine saved and play it again for Axel. Axel laughs.

“Did you really beat the snot out of the guy? You know, Spider-Man usually just webs them up with a note.”

“Are you kidding? That asshole's lucky I didn't eat his brains and throw the corpse to the sharks. Did you see the bruises that lady had? Nothing! He was about to pull the trigger on his gun when I stepped in. He wasn't just a mugger, he was an attempted murderer.”

“Okay, okay. Don't get your panties in a wad. I'm just noting the differences, that's all. Look, you don't like the way your brother does things, right. So don't them that way. I don't think anyone can blame you losing your head in a situation like that.”

“They didn't rewind it all the way. There was a panel of people discussing my methods.”

 **“And an awesome video of him beating the shit out of the creepy dude!”** Lasher supplies helpfully from the stairs. Lasher gives Kaine a hug and then Eddie and Flash. He whaps Axel upside the head with a psuedopod.

“Hey, what was that for?!” Axel says, irritated.

 **“Just in case you need it later and we're not there to give it to you.”**

Eddie laughs and pulls Axel into a bear hug. “Seek revenge at your own peril, squirt,” Eddie says as he kisses Axel's hair. 

“You always take his side,” Axel complains. 

“And that's not gonna change, so get used to it,” Eddie answers. “Besides, I'll give you extra affection later to make up for it.”

“That a promise?” Axel asks.

“You bet it is!” Eddie says.

Axel kisses him on the jaw and hugs him tighter. Kaine pops Axel on the ass and Axel jumps a little. 

Flash says, “So what do you guys want to do today? I could go for an aquatic hunt again.”

 **“We should visit Agony,”** Lasher says. **“She's all alone up there now. She needs to know we didn't forget her.”**

“I'm sure she does, champ, but we'll go remind her this afternoon. Sound good, buddy?”

 **“Okay. Now, who wants to get their ass kicked at video games? I'm ready for anyone!”** Lasher says maniacally.

Axel is too busy thinking about how sexy Eddie looks today and wondering if Kaine could bench press him without the Symbiote to answer. Flash looks like he's about to volunteer, but it occurs to him that no one's had breakfast. “Do you guys want to get something to eat? I can make breakfast or we could go out to a restaurant.”

“No restaurants. Even if no one will recognize me, I don't feel like I can go out in public today with what they had on the news. And I'm still hung over,” Kaine grumbles.

Lasher looks at him curiously. **“You know Carnage can metabolize that out, right. She can basically 'heal’ your hangover as long as you drink enough water. Maybe you should try some orange juice, it always helped me.”**

“You're _twelve_!”

**“Sixteen. And underage drinking isn't that uncommon. Jeez.”**

Eddie looks at Lasher for a second. “It is in this house, buddy! I ever catch you drinking and I will make you memorize every page of your science books.”

 **“Already working on that.”** Lasher says proudly.

“ _Good._ ”

“So I take it we're eating breakfast here,” Flash says bringing the subject matter back to food. “Do you guys want me to fix something or do you want to just scrounge. Cuz I'm fine either way, but I am hungry.”

“Whatever you make, I'll eat,” Kaine says. 

**“We second that emotion,”** says Lasher. 

“Not how that phrase goes,” says Axel.

**”We're memorizing our _science books. Government books come later."_** __

“I'll go help Flash in the kitchen," Eddie says. "You guys decide on a video game.”

 **”Halo?”** says Lasher, looking at Axel.

“How about 'no’. I'm sick of Halo right now,” Axel says.

“I've always been a Call of Duty fan,” says Kaine. “I've only played it one time, but I kicked Peter's ass, so I bet I can kick yours, too.” Kaine's only challenging Lasher because he knows it'll make it that much more fun for the kid. 

“We have Call of Duty. Lasher why don't you go get the room ready while I take Kaine up to get dressed for the day.”

“I can dress myself.” Kaine says flatly.

“But if you did, I wouldn't be there while you're naked.”

“Oh. I didn't think of that.”

**“Go be gross upstairs. We'll get the game ready. Be finished soon, 'cause we're not going to wait forever. If you do, I'll put in Kingdom Hearts out of spite.”**

“No Disney rodents,” says Kaine. “We'll be down soon.”

They go upstairs and Carnage has already peeled back to reveal Kaine's boxers. Axel is coming up the stairs behind him and gives him a solid grope. Kaine stops and turns to meet Axel's warm lips. They don't actually make it upstairs to Kaine's room, instead, making out on the stairway and feeling each other up. They're lucky that no one is coming up because they've got their hands in each other's crotches and their dicks in each other's hands. They take no time at all and before they know it, they're both on the brink. Axel uses Phage's tongue to slurp up Kaine's length and suddenly he's coming undone on the stairs. Axel isn't far behind and finishes only seconds after Kaine does. Neither of them expected it, but it was just too perfect to pass up. They kiss again and Axel doesn't seem to want to stop.

“We'll shower in my bathroom,” Axel says between kisses. “Go get whatever you're wearing today and meet me in the shower.”

“Yes, sir,” Kaine says breathlessly.

  


  


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After their rendezvous on the stairs, Kaine thinks getting Phage to sleep in his room should be no problem, except that his room isn't all the way ready yet. The walls are mostly dry, but Flash mentioned something about giving them another day. Kaine would feel bad about soiling the guest bed, so he pulls his mattress in from his room and sets it up on the floor to sleep on. 

Kaine meets Phage in the shower and is surprised to see him in Symbiote form, lathering himself gently with the loofah. Kain can't help but tackle him into a kiss, Carnage's red and black form enveloping his skin as their mouths meet. They lather each other up and wash each other off before kissing again. They change into their normal human forms and do it all over again. 

By the time they get down to the game room, Lasher is playing Skyrim on the PS4. He prefers to play it on his computer where he has modded the hell out of it, but this works in a pinch. He got tired of waiting for his brothers to finish with whatever they were doing to each other. Lasher bets he could've finished them both off in half the time. He doesn't really like guys that way but he knows his own skills. Back in the day he'd even gotten one-hundred dollar tips before, and that doesn't even count the base rate. He feels like he should get a PowerPoint presentation together so he can talk them through the male anatomy. They took for-fucking-ever. 

“So how you doing, Lasher. Beat any good bosses lately?” Kaine asks, trying to understand what he was seeing onscreen. 

“Nope, just haggling to get better prices for my merch. Raided a cave and got a shit-ton of iron armor I can't use.”

“That sucks,” Kaine says empathetically. 

“Yeah. The version on my computer has these awesome mods that make the loot better but my PS version just has mostly nothing but iron armor and sometimes potions.”

“Then why aren't you playing on your computer?” Kaine asks.

“Because I was waiting for you guys to come back down here so we could do something together. I spend too much time by myself. And you two took too long. What, do you not know how to work a dick or something?”

Phage says, “That's not the point. It's not a race. And that part didn't take us long at all. We were in the shower.” 

Lasher walks towards the kitchen mumbling something about still being able to use the PowerPoint. 

Kaine decides to see if Eddie and Flash are finished in the kitchen. It appears they finished preparing the food and are just now finishing up the dishes from cooking. There's a veritable family feast on the table and Kaine thinks to himself that living here has spoiled him for living anywhere else.

  


  


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Breakfast hits the spot and Kaine feels like a nap before they go visit Agony in the afternoon. He brings Axel to the guest room where they lay on Kaine's mattress and hold each other. Kaine's breathing slows and he falls asleep pretty quickly. Axel just likes to watch him sleep and feel his breathing. He shudders for a moment when he thinks about Greg, but he lets go of that thought quickly enough and focuses on the man in his arms. He hasn't known Kaine very long – not like he has with Flash – but he feels very comfortable around him. They fell into a comfortable domesticity after only a few days that it's taken months to establish with others in the past. Axel isn't in love, but he definitely has strong feelings for Kaine. It's not quite brotherly like it is with Lasher, but it's not _not_ brotherly, either.

Kaine wakes up a couple of hours later and kisses Axel tiredly before stumbling into the bathroom. He may have perfect equilibrium, but that doesn't mean his leg can't fall asleep. Axel gets up and makes the bed – well, mattress – before heading to his room to get changed into clothes for the LIFE Foundation. He may not want to see Greg, but he still wants to put his best foot forward if he does. He changes clothes and goes to the bathroom to comb his short hair, using a little bit of product to make sure it stays combed. When he gets downstairs, Kaine is still upstairs, and the rest of his family is watching an Avengers movie ( _Man! They get all the breaks!_ ) in the living room. Lasher, Eddie and Flash look ready to go and when Axel looks at the clock, it's about one o'clock. 

“Are you gonna finish the movie first or are we just waiting on Kaine?”

“Movie's almost over,” Flash says. “We can leave around one-thirty.”

“In that case, I'm gonna go help Kaine get dressed…” Axel says, trying to sound innocent. 

“You've got thirty minutes. I'm timing you,” Eddie says.

Axel doesn't respond but starts climbing the stairs as fast as he can. He catches Kaine getting out of the shower (again) and drops to his knees to show him a good time. They finish with five minutes left and Kaine quickly gets dressed. 

On their way out the door, Kaine grabs a couple of water bottles and passes one to Axel. They go in Eddie's truck and Axel gets stuck riding in the middle of the back seat. He doesn't mind that much and he gets to put an arm over Kaine's shoulders on the drive, so he counts that as a win. He'd put his other arm over Lasher's shoulders if just being around Kaine wasn't giving him boner. He doesn't like to cross signals and that would just be awkward anyways. The drive is mostly quiet, but Lasher makes a point to second Flash's suggestion that they go hunting today. Phage could go either way, but it's better to head these issues off at the pass than to start putting it off. One thing's for sure: no one with a Symbiote would dare go on a hunger strike.

  


  


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Kaine doesn't know what to do. Mister Gabriel is showing the video of him beating up that mugger and asking him again if he's noticed any newfound violent tendencies. Kaine has to admit that that's just an example of his regular violence.He says Carnage felt it too, but that was actually pretty tame for his baseline level of violence. Mister Gabriel grunts and pinches the bridge of his nose. He wouldn't dare throw away the opportunities that come with Carnage having a perfect match, but he tells Kaine to tone it down and be more careful not to be caught on video. He isn't about to tell a Spider-Man how to do his job, but he does inform Kaine that if it gets out that Kaine has a Symbiote, S.H.I.E.L.D. will be breathing down their necks all over again. In all honesty, he's glad that Carnage's symbiotic form with Kaine looks like a superhero costume and not a Symbiote. Kaine's just glad the meeting’s over and they can go visit Agony. 

But the meeting's not over. They're told that the LIFE Foundation is expanding their Symbiotics program and looking for new hosts. They've created a recruitment program which only discloses knowledge of the Symbiotes after someone has been confirmed a match and has signed a non-disclosure agreement. So far, they haven't found anybody, but they're informing the Symbiote family that they are looking for a match for Agony. They don't expect to find one anytime soon, but in accordance with their legal agreement with Eddie, the are required to inform him. 

Axel made it through the whole meeting without making eye contact with Greg, but as they leave, Greg takes his hand and gives it a gentle squeeze before letting go and walking away to follow Mister Gabriel. Axel feels too much and doesn't even know what to feel. He knows he put Greg in an awful position by giving him the ultimatum about Patrick, and he feels rotten knowing how much he hurt Greg by doing that. He tries to put that behind him and Kaine takes the same hand possessively. If Greg were there, Kaine's intentions would be clear: _hands off!_

Agony seems energetic today, and after communing with Kaine for a minute as he holds her and strokes her fur, she begins shooting webs around and hopping from one person to another, a little like Spider-Man going from building to building. The have a blast with her and enjoy the relatively short time they have with her (almost an hour), and Lasher starts complaining that how come he's the only one who can't shoot webs. Kaine promises to teach him when they get home and it makes Lasher smile.

  


  



	29. Leslie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leslie applies for a study.

Leslie has an okay life. She's a cosmetologist and aspiring theater actress. She spends most of her days cutting hair and giving manicures or rehearsing lines. There's nothing particularly special about her – or so she thinks. But if she could make a little more money than she's been making, that would be great. She's never been behind on rent, but she's cutting it pretty close these days. So she looks for opportunities to make extra cash by participating in human trials for soaps and shampoos. So far, she's never lost her hair or anything. It turned a funky green color once, but with a little bit of hair color it was subdued into a sea foam green and she got matching mascara. She looked awesome.

So when she finds a human trial for the LIFE Foundation that is offering over two million dollars a year for qualified candidates, her jaw drops. She metaphorically gathers it off the floor and calls the number on the website. They make her an appointment to come in for testing to see if she qualifies. The appointment isn't for a couple of days, so she goes on with life and pretends she's not maybe on the verge of anything life-changing. 

The appointment comes sooner than she expected – mainly because she expected it to feel like waiting forever – and Leslie goes to the LIFE Foundation dressed quite snazzy. She quickly feels overdressed as most people there are in suits or scrubs, but she's still rocking her look. It just doesn't give her the air of confidence she usually feels from it because this isn't a place where anybody cares that she's wearing a designer dress and designer shoes with admittedly too much makeup. 

They show her to a medical examination room where they take blood and DNA swabs and check her health. They run scans of her body and ask her questions about her medical history and tell her that they'll be in touch.

A week later she gets the call. She's qualified as a candidate and they want to go over some paperwork with her. She expects it to be the usual, but instead it's a lengthy presentation after signing a dozen waivers and even more non-disclosure agreements. The presentation describes a life form that cohabitates in a human body and can change the human altogether - from personality to diet to muscle fibers – and give enormous benefits in some cases. She sees video of a rabbit's growth over several months and the gradual changes the Symbiote has made to the rabbit. She sees other Symbiote covered humans interacting with the rabbit, even playing with it. She is told that one of the men onscreen – one who looks like a white muscular alien with black veins – has veto power over the Symbiote and can terminate her contract for any reason at any time, so 'be nice to the white alien guy’ goes on a checklist in her head. 

They never say where these creatures came from. She assumes they found these things deep in the ocean. There's all kinds of unexplored species there and she _definitely_ doesn't believe in aliens. 

When the presentation's over, they take her to meet the rabbit and the intelligent being attached to it. She squeals with delight as they let her hold the cute little thing, and she doesn't think she's ever seen such an adorable creature before. There's a purple-pinkish tint to its eyes and feet and it hops all over her, sticking to her clothes like a gecko. They tell her that they've cloned the rabbit a few times and that she can take it home with her if everything goes well in the first month or two. In her head, she decides to name the rabbit ‘Esctacy’ as in ‘Ecstacy and Agony’. She doesn't know why the Symbiote has that name, but it makes sense in her head to couple those two words. Wasn't there a Greek myth about it or something?

She feels the Symbiote poke at her mind through the rabbit's fur. It says, **_Host?_**

_I hope so!_ is all she responds with. She has trepidations about the whole thing, but who wouldn't? She still is looking forward to what she sees as the experience of a lifetime.

  


  



	30. Agony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie and family meet Leslie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for your appreciation of this story! This marks 100 kudos, and I'm really glad you're enjoying my work! It has been a goal of mine to please readers as much as myself and get a feel for what people want to read. 
> 
> There won't be many more chapters in this work because I will soon be starting the second piece of the _Venom's Family_ series: _Children of Carnage_!!

Eddie is out on date night with Flash. They've made a habit of getting away from the kids for some private time ever since Kaine walked in on them playing cops and robbers with Phage. (Naturally, Flash was the good cop since Eddie does the intimidation thing like a pro.) Now they spend some one-on-one time away from the house to keep their own romance strictly their own. They may play around with Axel and Kaine, but they aren't dating them. It's purely fun and affection.

They had planned on spending all night at the restaurant, but they hadn't planned on an interruption. They aren't expecting a call but Eddie gets one. The LIFE Foundation wants to talk when they get a chance. Eddie asks if it's about one of the kids, and they say it's about Agony. They decide it's better to get this out of the way than to let it stew, so Eddie says he can talk now. 

They've found a positive match for Agony. Leslie Gesneria. She signed all the agreements and jumped through all the hoops. She's a cosmetologist with a side career as a theater actress. She's done the orientation process and apparently fell in love with the rabbit Agony is bonded to. 

Eddie's a little shocked. They weren't expecting the LIFE Foundation to find a match so soon. It's only been a month since they started the matching program and only like one in four million would be a match. One in a quarter billion would be a perfect match like Flash and Venom are. He's halfway wanting to tell them to wait and see how many matches they get in the next few months, but if Miss Gesneria turns out to be the only match, he doesn't want to ruin his daughter's only chance at a human host. He tells the LIFE Foundation that he wants to be there for the procedure and that he wants them to keep looking for matches. If this one has some sort of drug problem or other major issues, he doesn't want all eggs in one basket. Flash says he wants to be there too, and Eddie tell the LIFE Foundation that both he and Venom's current host have to be there or there is no procedure. They tell him they understand and set up an appointment for next week when Axel is off work. 

Eddie and Flash return to their date, but the nervousness between them at this recent turn of events has made it hard to focus. That night, they invite Axel and Kaine to stay in their bed with them and they pile on each other like puppies and fall asleep.

  


  


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Next week comes too soon and the family of Symbiotes goes in Eddie's truck to the LIFE Foundation to meet Leslie. The good looking young woman is introduced by Mister Gabriel to the family, and Axel decides to kiss her hand, earning him a look from Kaine, who has become possessive of his new brother's affections. She seems nice and all but there's only so much you can tell about someone in meeting them for ten minutes. Eddie gives the go ahead though and feels like he's giving his youngest daughter away to a stranger. He doesn't really know how to handle this. 

Eddie holds Agony in her rabbit for a bit and feels a pulse of communication between them. He tells Agony it's time to leave the rabbit, but make sure the rabbit is in good shape for her to come back to. He tells her she needs to enter the anaerobic chamber on the other side of her enclosure once he puts her back. He kisses her on the head and nearly cries. But he doesn't.

They watch as Leslie enters the glass room they have set up for symbiosis and the glass tube is opened. Agony seems disoriented at first and makes her way to the viewing side of the room where she senses her fathers and brothers. Soon enough though, she notices the aerobic environment's strain on her exposed body and moves over to Leslie who is smiling at her. Agony climbs Leslie's legs to her chest, reminding Leslie of how the rabbit climbed all over her dress the other day. When the process is complete and Agony is securely bonded to Leslie, Leslie is still smiling. When they let her out of the room, there are tears of joy in her eyes. She's quickly covered in Symbiote and launches a hug at each Eddie and Flash.

**_We missed you both so much!!_ **

  


  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I noticed I stopped getting comments when I made a relationship out of Venom/Anti-Venom/Phage and Venom/Anti-Venom/Carnage. If that seriously bothers you guys with how these chapters went, you are welcome to tell me what you would have liked to see. I can still change it now, but soon I'll be starting the second work in the series and I would love some input as to whether to change these relationships.


	31. Webs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaine decides it's time for a lesson.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My next fic is out! I may add a few more chapters to _Children of Venom_ , but the next story has already begun. 
> 
> Check out _Children of Carnage_ , the second work in the _Venom's Family_ series.

Leslie is great. Even if Axel looks at her too much with mischief in his eye. Kaine doesn't mind because it's apples and oranges. She can't offer him what Kaine can, and Kaine knows it. Besides, she's a very likeable person. The went out seal hunting and she went off to get a Minke whale with Kaine, blowing off the rest of them to go after the larger feast. Kaine is happy about that. He thinks he might like her a lot if he gets to know her better. She seems bright eyed, cheerful and incredibly adaptable. She was able to talk about how cute the Minke whale was without it bothering her that she helped kill it. She explained that hunting food is different than killing pets. She might think lambs are cute but she still eats Greek lamb dishes without a second thought. Her incredible composure is what Kaine most admires about her. It's almost as good as his own and certainly more pleasant. Kaine doesn't think he could stand to meet someone just like him. He's just a little too abrasive and while he likes that in himself, he doesn't know that he'd like it in somebody else. 

These, among other reasons, are why he wants to show her something awesome. Partly, it's so she won't try it on her own and get hurt. Partly it's because he needs to teach Phage and Lasher anyways. 

He trades Symbiotes with Trevor when they get home and teaches Lasher how to form webbing. When that's done, he takes Lasher, Agony and Phage out to a nearby three-story apartment complex with sturdy buildings to show them how to web sling. At first, Lasher complains that they aren't using taller buildings, but after his fifth crash and burn, he sees the wisdom of Kaine's choice. Phage has some experience with it and goes at it like a natural, easily swinging from rooftop to rooftop, even throwing in a few sporadic flips. Eventually Lasher and Agony catch up to him and web him down so they can rush ahead of him as if it's a race. When Phage complains, before swiping the webbing away with massive blades, Kaine tells him they need to practice that kind of webbing too. He challenges Phage to catch him with his webs and though Kaine is often hit with Phage's webbing, he slashes it away with spikes, blades and claws before he can be tied down to a surface. Regardless, he's proud of Phage and looking forward to continuing their training.

  


  



End file.
